


The Contract

by InugamiMochi



Category: Devil May Cry, Persona Series, Shin Megami Tensei Series
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Introspection, Other, Reader-Insert, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-05-16 08:18:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 78,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19314262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InugamiMochi/pseuds/InugamiMochi
Summary: Those that deal with demons eventually cross paths. How true that proves when you are pulled through a portal that drops you literally in the arms of a mysterious, tattooed man...that can summon demons.  You find that you have made a contract with the host of the Velvet Room, awakened to a power that you can use to protect those newfound bonds you've made with the Devil Hunters.VxReaderA Devil May Cry fan fiction featuring a Persona-user Reader.





	1. Author's Prelude

**Authors Note**

Ack! What am I thinking!??

This fascination has turned into a full blown obsession now sweetlings heehee :3

On that note, this will be an attempt at a full blown plot. I had a bit of nostalgia when I logged back into Shin Megami Tensei – Dx2 Liberation. And I thought, you know I haven’t really seen a fanfiction riff on the DMC 5 collab Atlus had a few months ago on Dx2, and suddenly egads, plot bunny gone awry!

Interludes will also continue to be updated alongside this ~ As always, I will always deliver the best quality goods to you all as compensation for my sporadic updates.

One last thing, this will be the umbrella disclaimer I will make: I do not own any of the above mentioned series or any of the themes, characters, etc etc associated with said series. This story is pure fiction and written purposely for enjoyment and entertainment purposes. This will be Mature-Explicit just to be safe. And I will add appropriate warnings before the start of a chapter when I need to. 

With that said, let’s not keep Igor waiting now, _______. You have an important contract to make…


	2. Prologue – Aria of the Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would recommend listening to Persona's 5 iteration of the Velvet Room theme, but it's not necessary. Enjoy~  
> Edited 07.08.19

### Prologue - Aria of the Soul

“Ah, it seems we have a new guest.”

You blinked rapidly, feeling quite disoriented. Your stomach was lurching as if you had fallen from a great height. 

Oof.

“Why don’t you come closer and have a seat _____?” Came the raspy, courteous voice again.

You complied, glancing about curiously and not even questioning why you didn’t feel the least bit apprehensive of where you were. This had to be a dream, you thought serenely. But – what an odd dream.

Sitting in front of you, behind a large ornate desk, gloved hands clasped together was a gnarled and bizarre looking old man. He had a thinning pate, with tufts of thick grey hair brushed over his ears. His bulging eyes watched you with polite amusement over his incredibly long hooked nose. He wore a delighted smile, as if he had been waiting for you for some time but did not mind the wait because it was you.

“My name is Igor. Welcome to the Velvet Room.” He said pleasantly.

The Velvet… Room? Room was quite a stretch you thought with some incredulity. The area around you seemed endless, without any of the boundaries that constituted a ‘room’. The only solid floor you could observe was the thick plush royal blue carpet beneath you. But somehow, you were able to perceive that the carpet was merely a little bit of ground floating in a vast, endless space. You noticed the strange, distorted clouds of fireflies glowing lazily around you and hulking dark shadows flitting behind them. Above you were unknown constellations wheeling in silver and red across the space. The melting golden clock suspended behind Igor reminded you a little of that famous Dali painting.

“What is this place?” 

He chuckled, “This is a place that exists in between dream and reality, between mind and matter. Your body is asleep but your mind is floating in the ether of the Velvet Room.”

“How – no why am I here?” Something chimed in approval in your head, an Other nod that you were asking the right question.

“Ah yes, quite to the point are you? This space appears to those who have made a contract.”

You blinked in confusion, “But I didn’t make a contract.” At least, you didn’t remember making any type of contact that would have landed you in a place like this.

He nodded, still smiling. “Not yet, but you will soon ____. I brought you here to greet you and introduce myself to you.” He tilted his head to the side as a bright blue butterfly circled around you once before fluttering off into the darkness and his grin grew wider. “Ah…and oh yes, you are on the edge of the journey of a lifetime, _____. There is a great calamity already encroaching towards you, one that you will play a role in. For good or bad, only your decisions will tell.”

You were about to ask more questions, what calamity was he talking about? This dream was going beyond bizarre. 

But you were interrupted as you heard your alarm ringing.

“Do not fret, we will meet again very soon. And next time, you will be awake for it. Good luck ____. Remember that all those that deal with demons will cross paths eventually.”


	3. The Girl Catapulted Across Worlds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which you meet the Devil Hunters...  
> Edited 07.21.19

### The Girl Catapulted Across Worlds

As if the events happening in Red Grave City wasn’t bad enough…

“Come on! Can’t we get a break already?!” Nero exclaimed as he cut down through another demon, annoyance clear across his face. 

“Hurry it up asshole! I ain’t got all day waiting for you to take out the trash!!” Nico cried out from the safety of the Devil May Cry RV, a cigarette dangling between her fingers.

“Tch. If I’m taking so damn slow then maybe you should get out here and help!” He shouted back, pulling a gun on the demon that was about to dive kick him. 

“I am getting so sick of these ambushes! Don’t these guys have anything better to do?” He unloaded the entire chamber of bullets before rushing in to cross-slash the demon in half. Without missing a beat, he kicked back and leaned hard to the left into a dodge roll to avoid decapitation from a demon attempting to rush him from behind.

Nero took a quick moment to scan the area around him, hoping to find an end to the hordes of demons that continuously swarmed to them. When there was none, he cursed his luck. Dammit! He wiped at the sweat from his brows and shouted over at the slender man in black on his right.

“V! Any fancy tricks to finish this faster?”

V huffed as he called Shadow and Griffon back closer to him so they could reassess their strategy, “If I did, don’t you think I would have done something by now?” He asked drolly.

“Hey hey – maybe now might be a good time to call on the big guy yeah?” Griffon chimed in contrary to V’s words as he swept into a flurry of lightning to stop the demon trying to slip past them from getting to the RV. Shadow followed suit, stalking after the bird demon before launching into a flurry of spikes to pin the demon in place.

“What!? Don’t tell me you were holding out this whole damn time!!” _’Tch, this guy…’_

“I suppose I have no choice,” V sighed, raised his arm, and pressed his thumb and forefinger together, preparing to summon his third familiar. 

A portal yawned directly above them, and out fell…a girl screaming rather comically on her way down. The utter look of terror and surprise was quite a combination.

You made quite an impression on the devil hunters, ______.

In that petrifying, heart stopping free fall, all you could think about was how one moment you were at the hideout with your team. And the next minute, the world trembled violently and you found yourself pulled into a yawning abyss amongst the chaos. You also had a faint regret about how the last meal you had was instant ramen. 

You screamed as the ground rushed up to you, this really wasn’t how you wanted your last seconds of life to be….You saw your life flashing before your eyes….felt supreme disappointment when you realized there was not much to reminisce at fondly…were you really that boring? Geez, maybe you should’ve lived it up a little more…You closed your eyes and waited for the inevitable.

The falling stopped.

“You’re heavier than you look,” A mild voice rumbled from above you.

You slowly cracked open your eyes and saw…. 

…A strange, tattooed man looking down at you in faint surprise and amusement, his arms cradling you closely and securely. 

He….caught you?

“I apologize miss but I will have to deposit you here. Please don’t wander off from the van.” The man quickly set you on your feet by an RV, of all things, and sprinted back into the fray, cane twirling menacingly.

A bullet ricocheted off the side of the vehicle, inches from your head. You yelped and flattened yourself against the side of the RV. Two thoughts flashed through your head at that moment. One – was the RV _bulletproof?_ Two – you were going to tear a new one in the shooter that nearly finished the job the portal started. 

“Huh – girlie you better get inside before you get yourself killed out there!”

The door to the RV opened, you smelled the strong scent of nicotine and synthetic oil as you were roughly pulled inside by the scruff of your jacket. You collapsed into a jellied heap, limbs shaking as adrenaline fried your neurons into an overdrive mode of flight or fight. A dull ache formed behind your eyes, making you clutch at your head. A pained groan passed your lips, you were starting to feel the nausea from your impromptu high velocity travel. Ugh, what was up with that random portal sucking you in anyways?

“Hey, are you alright there girlie? Don’t you go throwing up on the floor of my van now!” The feminine southern drawl scolded you.

“S-sorry,” You gasped, instinctively apologizing to the stern voice as you tried to will the pain to recede. 

The woman examined you closely for a few moments. She thought you looked a little underfed but you looked like any other normal human she’s ever seen. You also looked terribly frazzled, but you had such adorably pinchable cheeks! She puffed at her cigarette a few times before grinning at you. Whatever she saw seemed to satisfy her. “You’re a darling looking thing, aint’cha? The name’s Nico.” She pulled you up to your feet and helped you into the front passenger seat.

“I’m, I’m _____.” _’And I hope I don’t need a bucket...’_ Your stomach roiled like a pot of boiling water. Maybe sitting down for a little will settle your stomach. 

You glanced through the windshield and your eyes widened at the battle playing out before you. You saw two young men, accompanied by a demonic bird and panther, actually holding back a herd of demons. Sparks of gunpowder flickered around them and you heard the rapid firing of guns. The clash of steel and crackle of lighting added to the cacophony of their battle. You glanced back at the woman lounging in the driver’s seat; she was lighting another cigarette and acting as if this was a daily occurrence. 

She noticed your look, and took in how pale your complexion was. “Hey kiddo, you don’t look so good. You look like you’re gonna fall over dead.”

You took in a deep, steadying breath, trying to pull some of your scattered thoughts back to the present. “No, no…I’m…I’ll be fine. This is just…” You gestured at the battle helplessly, trying to find the words to express the bizarreness of the situation. “This is NOT what I was expecting when I woke up today.” _’Way to make the understatement of the year _____.’_ ’

Nico laughed, deep and warm. _Genuine._ “Oh girlie, you and me both. But honestly, given my luck, I ain’t too surprised that I managed to get pulled into another dimension and it just so happens to be filled with demons too!” Nico thought that it was interesting that you weren’t screaming and crying at the sight of the demons right away. Your outward reaction to the sight of V and Nero fighting was incredibly bland in all honesty. Even the soldiers back home had shit their pants watching those boys fighting the demons with reckless ease. Just who were you?

Your thoughts mirrored hers almost exactly. You wanted to drop your jaw in surprise at how blasé she was just watching everything play out. Actually, once you calmed down a little, you realized that made a lot of sense given her casual demeanor and the company she kept. Still, you thought she was quite the badass for just taking it in stride. Unlike you, you were just currently oscillating between wanting to have a proper freak out and making a checklist of the things you’ll do to the ass that plopped you here without warning. 

The two of you observe the battle finally wind down, the last of the demons disintegrating into ash and scattering away with the wind. You were plenty curious, they didn’t seem to have any trouble at all defeating those demons. Just WHO are these guys!? They were seriously powerful on a different level than you were used to.

“Come on – let’s go have a look-see.” Nico urged you out the RV.

“Finally – I think that’s the last of it!” 

“Nero you asshole – what the hell DID you do to my arm!?” Nico’s eyes zeroed in on the white haired man as she rushed over to yank off the robotic arm off the man she called Nero. He grinned sheepishly at her as she turned the sparking, broken arm over in her hands with a disgruntled look on her face. All those hours lovingly poured into this and Nero just shattered it from one measly battle!

“Yeah – well maybe you shouldn’t make them break so easily!” He retorted with the practice ease of a sibling.

“Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you to be careful with the merchandise?”

“Perhaps the two of you can resume your little…disagreement at a more appropriate time. I believe we have a new guest here to welcome.” The mysterious man in black interrupted, approaching them. While his tone was mild and polite, there was no mistaking the look of suspicion glinting in his dark green eyes.

_’His eyes are like a knife.’_ You couldn’t but shudder a little as they pierced right through you. _’He’s really intense.’_ You felt the back of your neck break out in a cold sweat under his dissecting gaze. 

“The little lady says her name is _____. Ain’t she a cutie?” Nico stopped her bickering with Nero long enough to pinch at your cheeks. You flinched back and tried to bat away her hands before she pulled off your face. You took back the badass comment – This lady was just crazy!

Nero looked over at you, his entire stance not as remotely guarded as his companion in black. But you thought, given his battle skills, he can probably afford to not be on guard since he could thrash you with just his pinky. “Nice entrance back there, although I’d have to give you a 1 for that shitty landing.”

_’RUDE!’_ “Well - thanks for the feedback, guess I’ll work on sticking that landing better for next time.” You said dryly. “At least I didn’t let a demon smash my face into the dirt.” You quipped, eyes lingering pointedly on the dust and demon gore smeared on the left side of his face.

Nero rolled his eyes at you. “Heh, great another smartass.” He felt like he was starting a collection at this rate, did everyone he meet have to be a smart-aleck? “I’m Nero and the guy you have to thank for saving your scrawny ass is V. And you already met our resident psycho.” He started off towards the van, waving for the others to herd you with them, “Come on, we’ll give you a lift. We can try to figure out what’s going on while we drive. Who knows, maybe you might be able to clear up some things for us, yeah?” 

You thought you heard a little threat behind that ‘friendly’ offer. There was a definite expectation for you to fall in line for now. _’Not like I have much of a choice’_ , you thought. If the circumstances were reversed, you’d do the exact same thing…except maybe with more violence or zip ties, just like how the handbook trained you for hostage situations like these.

Nico ushered you in and dove behind the wheel to start the engine. V climbed in after you and snapped the door shut.

_’No way out now. I’m feeling like the lobster trapped in a pot of boiling water.’_ You gulped as your mind helpfully supplied your over active imagination with all of the horror-movie inspired scenarios that could happen to you. _’I need to find a less frightening hobby.’_

“So _____, feel free to start anytime now, but how the hell did you end up falling out of a portal? Although I’d ask for a refund if you paid for the trip, cause as you can see….” He gestured at the carcasses of demons and pools of blood dotting the passing landscape, “This isn’t exactly a dream getaway here.”

You nodded, wanting to appear as compliant as you could. 

“The last thing I remember was…” You trailed off, recalling the moments before the portal appeared out of nowhere and drew you in. 

“The world was ending…” You said softly.


	4. Welcome To Limbus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.21.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain't it great how we met each other  
> On this wild and crazy carousel of life  
> Ain't it cool how it changed the paths of our lives  
> Set us off on new adventures  
> (Persona Q – Maze of Life)

### Welcome To Limbus

There was silence at your rather dramatic words, which made you internally giggle. You couldn’t help it; that had been a great moment for a touch of flair right there. 

“…something went wrong, well more wrong than normal…” You started seriously now, as your mind flashed back to just a few moments ago, when you were being debriefed with the other crop of new Persona-users at the Hideout. The meeting was just an overview about your excursion into the first level of Limbus as part of your group’s final steps towards graduation to becoming a full-fledged member of the Liberators…it was supposed to be a normal day; it was supposed to be business as usual. You mentally snorted. Of course something would go wrong, **of course**. Things going shitfaced while the world was ending was just the type of luck you had. Not for the first time, you wondered what exactly you did in a past life that made your karma so terrible this time around.

“I’m not really sure how in the hell a portal opened up right in the middle of my meeting, considering the only ones I know about are carefully regulated by my employers. And they’re actual doors. But…” You sifted through the possible culprits mentally, “..we’ve had an issue with cults lately opening up portals to summon demons left and right around our place, I guess it wouldn’t be a stretch to think it was their fault I got dragged into one they summoned, and it just happened to drop me here...of all places…” Come to think of it, it was incredibly fishy that the portal only dragged you in and you haven’t seen any of the others from your team…maybe you were just the first one in and they were just somewhere else? A part of you doubted that though.

You fidgeted with the Dx2 armband around your left arm and glanced at the hellscape passing outside the windows. “Really though, the portal had to connect to Limbus, of all the damned places to be at...” The constant rain of ash, the stench of Otherworldly decay and the howls of demons in the distance was familiar enough to you. Everything you saw had a dirty, gritty pallor that colored everything with an eerie and ominous air. This place was so depressing…

“Shit, that girl…demon kid we were fighting earlier mentioned something about this place being Limbus too. So you know where we are then?” 

You hummed thoughtfully, “Only as much as I was told by my mentor…Limbus is an in between place – although some people might call it Hell or Purgatory, it’s all the same thing in the end. Just another dimension filled with demons ready to tear you apart to snack on your soul. But I’ve heard of spots in the dimension itself where you can also run into people from other worlds too.” 

Limbus was a very strange place, a nexus where another dimension or possibly multiple worlds could just connect to each other using Limbus as a bridge of sorts.

You fought the urge to shiver at how intensely V’s eyes were leveled at you, trying to pick you apart and assess you. You certainly didn’t appreciate it, even though you knew the reasoning behind his caution. “I was supposed to go in today with a team as part of my training,” You rambled on a bit more self-conscious and nervous now, “but in a safer zone and at a designated door, and with a chaperone. I’m a rookie, I’m not even cleared to be this far in Limbus.”

_’Oversharing!’_ You mentally scolded yourself, recalling how it’s been pointed out numerous times that you rambled on as a nervous tick. But these guys were really just putting you on edge even **more** than the demons that you couldn’t help it.

“So uh what’s your guys’ story?” You switched gears quickly before you ended up spilling your whole life story to these strangers, “You guys didn’t come through the same portal that got me. That must mean you’re not from the same place as me, am I right?” Your mind whirred through all the possibilities, it was possible that they were just Liberators you never met, but you had a gut feeling you were right in assuming they came from another world. Call it that weird Other sense, but it’s been chiming in your head constantly lately whenever you did something correct.

“That’s what it’s starting to look like.” Nero crossed his legs and sat back further into the couch, “We were in the middle of a mission of our own when suddenly it started to look like the Underworld swallowed up the place. Next thing we knew, we just got swarmed by demons nonstop.” He scratched the side of his face, grimacing in disgust as he accidentally flaked off some dried gore. “And then here we are.” Nero was starting to feel like nothing could surprise him anymore. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know of an exit out of Limbus, do you?” V asked.

Your shoulders sagged at that. The air grew tense between you as they waited for you to continue, “Not…this deep in Limbus….it’s not that simple. It’s one thing to make a door and enter from the Human world. It’s another thing to try and leave from this side. We’re in so deep…we’d have to find the demon that reigns in this pocket of Limbus to generate enough of an energy disturbance to force open a rip. There is also the extremely rare possibility of a rip just appearing out of nowhere too, but I wouldn’t count on it. And I couldn’t even tell you where the doors my employers use are, since well…I don’t know where exactly in Limbus we are anyways.”

“Heh, so we’re just going to solve this the same way we always do - by kicking some demon ass!” Nero cracked his knuckles.

“And that’s the part you’re excited by? Are you just reckless or that simple minded?” You asked incredulously, a bit amazed at how easily he just breezed past your explanations and focused instead of the most dangerous part. Honestly, did this guy just live only to fight? Oh dear lord, he was one of those people wasn’t he? The ones that loved to find a challenge, the more dangerous the better? You mentally groaned, a trouble magnet…that’s what he was. You were going to get killed!

“God blessed you with smarts _____, you hit it right on the head. Nero’s got shit for brains.” Nico added, purposely driving over several bumps to jostle everyone. 

“Hey!” Nero protested, beginning yet another round of bickering with Nico.

You sighed with as much of a deadpan expression as you could muster. “I’m really stuck with you guys.” You felt a sense of doom; that Other sense was chiming excitedly to you that these guys were your ticket back. 

“Considering the alternatives, I would count yourself quite blessed. At the very least, there is no shortage of entertainment.” V interjected with a chuckle. That was quite an expression, one that V could actually commiserate with. It reminded him of when he first encountered Nero and Nico together – but he learned to just accept their antics in stride.

“Riiiight.” You drawled skeptically at V. You laced your fingers tightly together, trying to hide the shaking that hadn’t quite gone away. “Ok well, quid pro quo, I got another question for you.” _’This information ain’t free buddy. Also, ____, stop staring at his hands!’_

A glitter of mirth flashed in V’s eyes as his long fingers idly rolled his cane in his hands. “A shrewd woman. I approve.” He knew exactly what you were watching. His suspicions were starting to quiet a little, you really had no concept of duplicity did you? Judging by how much you fidgeted and how much information you already unknowingly provided – you were either a fantastic actress or as he was starting to suspect, an over sharer when nervous.

You coughed and pinked at that knowing look. _’Busted.’_ “Uh…You said that a demon talked to you – what did they say?” An exasperated chime went off in your head, like you were asking the right questions finally.

Nero’s attention was pulled back to you. He shrugged. “It was some demon that looked like a little kid. I didn’t get much out of it, all it wanted to do was just try to kill us.”

“Your powers of observation astounds me sometimes Nero. The demon made a brief mention about ‘Mother’ collecting only the strongest souls. I gather at the very least, this Mother may be the demon for us to pursue and defeat if we wish to return home.”

_’If a demon wanted strong souls, then why the hell am I here?’_ You filed that question away for now. 

Everyone toppled to the side as Nico suddenly swerved hard and skidded to a stop. “Break it up back there, we got a road block up ahead!”

Right in the middle of the road was a little blonde girl in blue…smiling eerily as she waved at them.

“Hey – that’s pretty great timing.” Nero rushed out the van, sword already out and revved to max.

“Wha – don’t be so reckless!” You started to reach out to grab him. That was a Fiend, as in a super powerful demon that could literally just dish out Death! But V stopped you.

V slipped past you to follow after Nero, “There is no need to worry ____, I will keep an eye on him.”

You glanced at Nico who was nonchalantly propping her feet up on the dashboard. 

“Get comfortable and enjoy the show hon, I got a feeling it’s gonna blow to shit real fast, and it’s gonna be real good!”

You followed her example and settled in the passenger seat. _’These people are missing some screws.’_ If you weren’t trapped in the middle of a demon infested dimension with no way out, you would’ve booked it by now. These guys were taking recklessness to a whole new level of insanity. _’What are they thinking, going after a Fiend Class demon like that!? I hope they’re good enough to make it out…’_ These guys were really challenging everything you were taught. It seemed to you that throwing caution to the wind was **normal** for these guys.

The pale girl smiled widely as Nero and V approached and giggled. “Oh you made it mister, I was wondering if you’ve got eaten already. That’d be no fun if you did.”

“I’m not one to disappoint – so how about you be a good kid and tell me where I can go find the one who’s behind all this so I can go kick their ass.”

“Teehee. You’re not going to get to see Mother until she calls for you. Why don’t you just play with me instead? Let’s play – **die for me**.” Her voice deepened ominously, losing its childlike quality.

She stretched her arms out and a horde of demons bubbled out from the ground, snarling and gnashing their teeth. 

“Tch, if that’s how you want to do it. V watch my back!”

“Griffon, let’s see if we can even the playing field.” His avian familiar swirled into shape and perched himself on V’s outstretched arm. 

“Geez again? I’m going to have to start charging you for overtime V.” He quipped before taking off to dive at the nearest demon.

“Get out of my sight!” Nero loosed a hail of bullets at the demon that blocked his way towards the little girl that was giggling insanely to herself. It was some sort of flying insect that squealed as it crashed heavily to the ground. A quick stab with his sword saw it disintegrate into ash.

Nero tried to advance closer to the girl but she pushed him back with a burst of black demonic energy. “Oh no mister, we haven’t gotten to the best part yet!”

Swirls of dark energy pierced past the two hunters, barreling towards…

“The girls!” Nero pulled his gun on the demon and started shooting, hoping to shatter its focus or at least distract enough to change the trajectory of its attack.

“Dammit!” He cursed when the bullets didn’t seem to deter it. Nero rushed in again, this time ejecting his robotic arm so he could detonate at the demon to create a direct explosion. He didn’t hesitate as he swung his sword down before the dust settled. This oughta finish it…

Griffon dropped V behind the demon. His cane blazed with magic as he skewered the demon before it could run away again. Triumph etched on his face. “Return it to the underworld.”

“That was really fun mister, we’re going to have to play again. But you won’t get to Mother like that…Since you played with me, I’ll tell you something. Mother is REALLY strong, you can’t beat her unless you beat all the other demons here.” The demon vanished.

“V – You really are a bastard, have I told you that?”

“One has heard that several times,” V replied with a faint smirk.

“Woohoo – now that’s what I call Smokin’ Style! Talk about getting in the money shot V!” Griffon settled himself on V’s shoulder.

“Nero you dickhead, you almost got us killed!” Nico called out.

“Stop bitching Nico – you’re fine aren’t you?”

Nico cheerfully flipped him off before hopping out to begin scouring around the battlefield debris, wondering if there was anything to be salvaged for her experiments. She spotted something glittering, that looked promising!

You stayed back in the RV, watching their banter with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. They really were an **odd** bunch. You couldn’t figure out if they were just that close or if they just constantly grated on each other. You shook your head but quickly regretted it. The nausea from earlier was still lingering around, doing painful things to your head and stomach. Not to mention, your nerves were fried beyond belief, nothing at all in your training could have prepared you for something like this. 

You recalled wryly about how the most shocking thing to happen in your life was learning about the existence of demons. Now you had to deal with the fact that while you were in Limbus, you also were more or less like a hostage/rescued lost girl(?) with these crazy people from another dimension. 

But, you told yourself, ignoring that you were dealing with their suspicion of you, it was a lot better than trying to wander the hellscape on your own. You weren’t even armed. You swallowed as you tried not to think about where you would be now if that portal didn’t conveniently drop you off with the Devil Hunters. 

At least they were nice enough to not shoot first and ask questions later.


	5. The Path to Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.21.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a war out there everyday, you can't hide from it  
> You gotta play by the rules, play it cool  
> Gotta laugh in the face of the sad disgrace  
> When your friends and foes look alike  
> (Persona 4 – Time to Make History)

### The Path to Mother 

“I can’t believe you wanna go out at a time like this.” Griffon griped, eyes scanning around for demons. “Sure that van ain’t a five star hotel but it beats camping out in the open!”

“I have a working hunch I would like to prove.”

“Says the genius here, hah! Even the cat is grumpy at you.”

Shadow flicked his tail but otherwise stayed silent and let the bird demon vent. Griffon was too bothersome to deal with most days and it was a waste of energy to quibble with him.

“Well? What the hell is so important that we have to wander off in the middle of a dangerous place like a bunch of idiots?” Griffon demanded.

V pointed his cane at a large hulking demon standing in the distance, its glowing eyes trained on the trio as if waiting for them to approach. “I have a mind to get some answers from that fellow over there.” He had been sensing a large concentration of demonic energy nearby, and following his instincts, he was confident that now as a good time as any to start digging for answers. Answers that their new ‘addition’, would not be able to provide. It was starting to become readily apparent that the extent of ____’s knowledge about this realm seemed to end when it came to the topic of finding them an exit out of this dimension. 

“Hoo that’s a big boy – I didn’t know they make diapers in his size!”

“You are foolish to insult one who is superior to you in strength.” It rumbled.

“Ooo I’m shaking! V this guy’s a joke! I mean what kind of respectable demon goes around wearing their panties outside their clothes?”

“A little courtesy goes a long way Griffon.” V murmured, coming to a stop at a healthy distance from the hulking demon. It was one that he’s never encountered before. Armored in gold, with a dramatic helmet gilded in large curving horns and complete with a fluttering cape. Privately, he did agree with Griffon’s assessment though.

“I am Thor, the god of lightning. How unfortunate for you to have crossed my path.” He raised the hammer gripped in his hands and a large barrier of lightning circled around them. “Your fate is sealed and your souls will be mine to harvest.”

“ **The cistern contains, the fountains overflow**.” V raised his arm and snapped his fingers. His hair fluttered, turning snowy white. A meteor appeared from the sky and exploded in front of the demon.

“Going in guns ablazin’ huh V? Alrighty, guess I better get to work!” Griffon flared brightly as he hovered above Thor, rapidly firing bursts of lightning at the demon from above.

Shadow leapt from behind Nightmare, rolling himself into a bladed wheel and began throwing himself at Thor’s side. Nightmare alternated between using his hulking arms to rain heavy blows down on the demon and providing a shield for Shadow and Griffon against Thor’s attacks. 

“Gouge him.” V directed Shadow to fall into another stance of attack. Large spires erupted from Shadow in an attempt to impale their enemy.

Thor’s hammer crackled with lightning as he brought it up high. “You are proving quite worthy opponents, but I will end this now!” He brought his charged hammer down to the ground, the lightning sweeping across the entire enclosed battlefield.

Griffon swept down to pull V off the ground as fast as he could. Shadow growled as he took the full brunt of the attack and felt his solid form dispelled. He curled back into an orb of energy to wait until he recharged enough to take his form again. V recalled Nightmare back before the summon could suffer the same fate.

“Was that it?” V asked mildly, freefalling down towards the demon as Griffon dropped him directly from above. He channeled his magic into his cane, seeing the weak spot on the back of the demon’s head, a chink in the armor. “Now die.” V slid the cane home and leapt back.

Thor fell to his knees, already seeing his body dispersing into ash. “Mother has called the strongest souls to her. It seems that I will not be one of them.”

“Tell me what is the goal of this Mother? For what purpose is she collecting souls for?”

“You will have to continue to defeat the demons here to see for yourself, demon hunter. The glory of the Mother’s promised Salvation depends on the harvesting of the strongest souls and the strongest one left standing…will be the worthiest.” The demon vanished completely.

V poured a little of his own magic to revive Shadow and watched as the barriers fell.

“Geez that was a waste of time.” Griffon complained as he settled back onto his favorite perch on V’s outstretched arm. “All that work and what’d you get out it?”

“I’d say our friend was quite cooperative. He may have stated we had more trials, but I can sense that there are not very many demons close to our strength left. Between us and Nero, I believe that we will find ourselves confronting this Mother soon enough.”

But there was something that wasn’t sitting quite right with him. If this Mother was harvesting souls, why was she utilizing demons to do so for her? Could it be possible that she was too weak to do it herself? If that was the case; if they could hurry and assuming your information was correct about how to force open a portal back; striking while Mother was still weak would be their best chance of return back home.

**Back at the van ----**

Nico was taking peeks at you every now and then from her place at her workbench. You were dead asleep on the narrow couch, having been drugged by the knockout powder Nico slipped into your dinner earlier. It was nothing against you, but she wanted to talk to Nero without you hearing anything you shouldn’t.

“Think we can trust her?” Nero asked, prodding at the unknown crystal Nico picked up earlier. 

“She’s got a cuter face than that V – that makes her trustworthy in my books. Besides, my womanly intuition says that she fell into our laps in the middle of this shit storm for a reason.”

He scratched the back of his head. “Your intuition?” He asked skeptically.

Nico responded by slapping the back of his head and pressing his face into the counter. “You wanna try that again?”

He smacked her hand away and glowered at her. “You’re such a bitch.”

“100% bonafide.” She smirked. 

“Tch. You’re a real pain in the ass.”

“Grow some balls little man.”

“Get serious Nico, I’m just getting some weird vibes from her. Besides, what kind of world is she from where coming into shithole like this is considered training? That’s not normal.” What he really meant was, that it was not normal for him to see someone as fragile looking as you venturing out in places like this voluntarily…Nero couldn’t decide which category you fell under: either you were stupid, you were battle fodder, or you were hiding powers they haven’t seen yet.

“Got me there, but she ain’t gonna say much if you keep in scaring her with that ugly mug of yours. In fact, maybe I’ll tell your honey Kyrie about how much of a bully you’ve been.”

“Geez, now you’re gonna blackmail me?” Nero asked defensively. It wasn’t that big of a deal to be a little suspicious of you was it? After all, a lot of the demons he’s killed so far looked eerily human whereas the ones scuttling around Red Grave were a hella lot more…demonic looking. It was perfectly normal to be a little on edge since for all he knew, you could be a demon in disguise too. In fact you set him on edge the same way V did. 

“Oh yeah – hey Nico, think you can make some sense out of this?” Nero pulled out a torn page from one of his pockets. “The demon I killed earlier dropped this.”

Nico smoothed the wrinkled page and adjusted her glasses. That was interesting, there was a logo that matched the one on your armband up in the corner. She thought that it looked like part of a page out of a handbook or encyclopedia of sorts. It read as follows:

**#4 On Persona Users** \- _Individuals with a specialized awareness that can manifest their will physically to combat the hardships of life. However rare in occurrence due to the trait only occurring naturally, cannot be taught. Users are harder to train and replace due to the high frequency of Beserker state when the user experiences a dissonance between their Ideal Self and Shadow Self. Highly valuable due to the presence of their active Persona granting them superhuman boosts to their physical and mental states – thus can be dispatched to dimensions like Limbus due to their durability being greater than that of a normal human, (i.e Devil Summoner). Also high in demand for solo missions or for combat against demons too powerful for Devil Summoners to handle…._

The rest was cut off right there.

They lapsed into silence for some time, each of them examining you thoughtfully, wondering how that information pertained to you. You mentioned that you were supposed to be training – were you one of these specialized users or was that just coincidence this bit of information appeared in their laps shortly after you did? But the answer would have to wait a little bit, currently, you were sleeping deeply with no signs of waking up. Although you might be the busiest heavy sleeper they both have seen; your face was pinched in pain, your hands twisting the hem of your shirt and you were just mumbling incoherently under your breath. Nightmares maybe?

Nero sighed and got up. “I’m still feeling antsy. I’m gonna go see what’s taking V so long.”

“Make sure you bring me back presents, you’re racking up a tab with all the Devil Breakers you keep losing. And keep your eyes peeled for more of these, I’ve got a feeling we might see more around here.”

He waved her off in annoyance, “Yeah, yeah whatever.”


	6. Put Your Piece into Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.21.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can’t make a move until you put yourself into play.

### Put Your Piece into Play 

When you woke up finally, it was only Nico working away in the van. While Nico was the nicest one out of the bunch, you still felt awkward sitting idly inside the van without anything to do. Thankfully, she seemed to notice your discomfort and called you over.

“Hey there sleepy head.”

“Hey – oh what are you working on?” You looked curiously at the different parts she had laid out in front of her.

“My next greatest masterpiece! I was thinking Nero could use a little more firepower.”

“Oh…Nico – can I ask…” You paused but decided to continue, “Who exactly are you guys?” You quickly winced, you didn’t mean to get intense all of a sudden at the end. You hoped she didn’t take it the wrong way.

“Hmm? Our job is just taking requests and kicking demon ass. Saving the world is just the icing. Shitty pay though.” Nico made some adjustments to the arm. It sparked and emitted a few puffs of smoke in her face. She coughed and waved her hand to clear the air. “Well, that didn’t work…”

“I see…” You replied thoughtfully, trying to reconcile that thought in your mind. They clearly weren’t anything like the ones you trained with back home. Back at the hideout, everyone you saw was always hurrying along with a stern scowl on their face. There definitely was none of the snarky banter you’ve seen between these hunters. Granted you couldn’t blame anyone for the tense atmosphere back home, there was an immense pressure on everyone in the Liberators to curb the demonic problem in your city. Still, these guys were challenging the belief that that hunters were supposed to be dead serious, all the time. 

_’I kinda envy them. I mean how the hell do you find a way to laugh in the face of something this horrific?’_

“Are there others like you guys back in your world?” You asked.

“Oh yeah, there’s Lady and Trish, and of course the owner of this here business, Dante. Its cause of him that Devil May Cry exists.”

She motioned for you to hand over the part next to your elbow. “How about you ___? What’s it like back in your world? Frankly, I’m surprised that demon infestations is more of a common thing than I thought.”

“Well…it actually never used to be like that. I remember it started about a year ago…there was a man who broadcasted himself all over the media, threatening to ..oh how did he say it…’purge the world of the corruption of humankind’.” You used the air quotes to great effect. “I thought it was a joke or something. Until one day it really happened. Portals began appearing all over the place and the demons just kept coming.” 

Nico whistled lowly, stunned at the familiarity of the story you were telling. It seemed like no matter what, there’s always some arrogant shitbag who thinks they could take over the world with an army of demons.

You shrugged, “I got lucky the Liberators found me before I was eaten. A lot of the rest of the world…not so much.”

“Well shit, that almost makes me wanna cry for you ____.”

Nico tinkered a bit more with the robotic frame a bit. “How’d a darling thing like you fall into this line of work anyways?” She motioned for you to hand over a screwdriver. If she kept you busy, she could probably get you to spill the beans without realizing it until it was too late.

“…Well…” You started hesitatingly, it was still a fresh and terrifying memory, “…the way I saw it…it was get eaten or get eaten while saving people from being eaten. The Liberators offered me a way to do the latter and I honestly, didn’t think twice and jumped at it.” You inwardly flinched, not quite the truth but it was good enough to answer Nico’s question. _’Let’s not go down that rabbit hole…’_ You firmly kept your mind from wandering down that particular memory. 

“Makes all the sense in the world to me. It’s kinda nice to find someone with more on their mind just picking a fight because you’re bored.”

“That’s…really reckless…” You recalled the glee on both Nero’s and V’s faces when they battled against the Fiend earlier. You’ve never seen anything like it. Back home people fought to survive, to protect the ones who couldn’t fight or well, to take advantage of the weak because they liked to be a bully. And then there was the handful few that fought to prove something. If there was someone who just enjoyed fighting for the sake of fighting back home, you haven’t met them yet. In all honesty, it made you feel a little exasperated – fighting for fun, _really_? Men, you tsk’d. _’No point in wasting brain cells trying to understand that, move on _____.’_

Nico snorted, “Don’t I know it. But Nero and V, they can handle themselves just fine. I can’t complain much since at the end of the day, I get their business whenever they break their equipment.”

The arm sputtered and exploded in a shower of sparks.

“Dammit!”

It was a few hours later when you and Nico spotted Nero heading back towards the van. “Hey – you actually came back empty handed?!” She teased.

Nero had the strangest blank expression on his face, you thought. Something chimed in alarm in your head, “Nico…start the van, NOW!” 

She immediately revved up the engine, hearing the urgency in your voice. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Nero raise his gun and start shooting rapidly at the side of the RV! She stomped on the gas pedal and peeled out. “Oh shit! Hang on to ya tits ____, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!”

You grabbed ahold of the jukebox as Nico swerved back and forth. You were simultaneously glad the jukebox was nailed down and that Nico drove like a psycho. Through the windows, you saw the young man chasing after you, firing off his gun endlessly at the van.

“What’s gotten into him?!”

“Hell if I know, but I’m going to put the beatdown on his ass as soon as he snaps out of it!” Nico gripped the steering wheel hard enough for her knuckles to white before turning the van too sharply to the left, intentionally rolling the van over the barricade of rocks in her way.

The van tumbled and flipped a few times, rattling the occupants inside but then it landed upright and continued to speed on. You told yourself now was NOT the time to be deeply impressed at the durability of the vehicle. Instead you scanned out the windows, doing your best to direct Nico on the whereabouts of the insane hunter chasing you down. 

You noticed a glint of steel up ahead that looked oddly familiar –

“Nico! Get me as close as you can to that hill!”

“Are you crazy!? ____ hon there are demons up there!”

“Trust me!” You were already opening the side door and gripping the sides tightly, eyes glued to the object you had in your sights. _’Now who’s the one being reckless?’_ Your brain taunted. _’Ugh, not now logic, kindly shut up.’_

…Great, you officially lost your mind.

“Fine – but I’m billing you for the funeral!! I ain’t a fighter so you’re on your own!”

You gauged the distance as best as you could, knees bending to ready yourself. You launched yourself out the side, landing on the road in a run. The bones in your feet rattled from the sudden impact but as nothing was broken, it wasn’t important enough for you to care. Right now, you needed to get up that hill and past those squat, pot-bellied demons wandering about.

_’Right, those are Haunt Pretas. Small fry, once I grab that gunblade out of there’_

You pushed yourself a little faster, skidding past the Pretas and yanking the gunblade out of the ground. Hah! Now you were armed and dangerous! You tested the balance and weight of the sword, finding that while it was a little heavier than you wanted, you could make it work.

The demons turned towards you simultaneously and cackled, fresh meat! A delicious human soul to snack on! And they were so hungry, always so hungry!

You bared your teeth and adjusted your grip on your sword. “Let’s play!” You demanded, sprinting towards the nearest one and readying your finger on the trigger. You brought the blade down fast, angling the revolver and releasing a round of bullets just before your sword sank into the demon. The demon exploded in a satisfying cloud of ash with a pitiful cry.

You turned your gunblade horizontally and slashed at the next Preta clean in half. And with a flick of your wrist, you swept the remaining Preta in the air with an uppercut. Another pull of the trigger and the bullets finished it off for good.

“Heh,” You shouldered your gunblade and smirked at your handiwork even though you knew that you only did so well because they were some of the weakest demons that existed. But you couldn’t help but feel at your most confident in the heat of battle. After the whole apocalyptic fiasco back home, this was the only way you could regain some semblance of control of your life again. Because…defeating your enemies until they can no longer fight back was concrete proof that you were a survivor. Academic intelligence, social status, all of your worries and fears, insecurities; none of that mattered once weapons were drawn. It always the victor that stood tall and strong in the end. Fighting was something that you could close a gap with in experience and training – although afterwards you would acknowledge that there was not much that can be done to equalize raw power.

As if the universe decided to punish you for your hubris, Nero appeared again, his sword already swinging down hard towards your head. You only barely managed to counter swing, teeth aching from the jarring sound of ringing steel as they scraped against each other. You heard him rev up his sword and then cried out in pain when a sudden burst of fire exploded between you. The small backdraft was searing hot, you could smell your singed hair and clothes. 

“Nero! Stop this right now! What’s wrong with you!?” 

You backed away from him to give yourself a bit of a breather. You stuck a hand into your pockets and cheered internally when you realized you had two Jack Frost bombs in there. You better make those count, the ice magic contained in those little orbs were good for only one shot each.

You were also unnerved when none of your questions and cries affected Nero. He continued to attack you relentlessly, with that same eerie blank expression. You threw one at his feet, wasting no time in watching him try to struggle out of the ice that was rapidly creeping up his legs, immobilizing him. You closed your hand into a fist and punched him in the jaw as hard as you could.

You gasped when he suddenly crumbled down into a pile of ash.

That…wasn’t Nero at all!

“This is not good.” You muttered when two more doppelgangers of Nero appeared. 

You blasted at them with the remainder of your bullets and used your last Jack Frost bomb on the nearest one. Knowing that these were not the real deal, you didn’t hold back as you slammed your blade deep into the chest of the imposter closest to you. However, the remaining fake used the opportunity to kick your legs from beneath you while you were occupied with dispatching the other one. You fell to your side heavily with a sharp cry of pain; you happened to fall on a pile of sharp debris that cut deep into your arm and side.

Feeling the wind rushing over you, you hurriedly rolled out of the way just as the sword came down on you, sinking in the place where your head had been. That was too close of a call, and unfortunately you didn’t think you would be able to pull a miracle out of this. You were bleeding and cut up and your dominant arm was too injured to lift the gunblade. You were also tired; killing the Pretas was one thing, fighting back to back with these doppelgangers was taking a toll on you. Even if they had only a small fraction of the strength of the original, having so many come at you was overwhelming.

“This really sucks.” You couldn’t come up with something witty for your last words.

The imposter advanced on you, leveling a gun right between your eyes.

**BANG!**

“Hey _____, sorry I’m late!”

Nero – the real Nero! – was grinning down at you. The imposter nothing more than demon dust.

Oh thank god – your body sagged in relief. “You got pretty good timing.”

Nero crouched down and gingerly lifted you up in his arms, an apologetic frown crossing his face. You were in no shape right now to even crawl back to the RV. At your insistence, he also grabbed the gunblade you had been using to defend yourself with. “Hey, I meant it – I’m sorry for taking so long _____.”

“At least you showed up before that faker splattered my brains all over the pavement.”

“Heh, you suck at making people feel better, you know that?”

He deposited you on the couch and let Nico help you clean up. You had some minor burns on the backs of your hands and up your arms. There was a nasty looking gash that was thankfully just shallow and already starting to coagulate. Although you needed Nico’s help to pick out all the little rocks and pieces glass out of it. You also weren’t sure when it happened, but the left side of your temple was sporting a nicely sized goose egg of a bump.

All in all, you felt like you didn’t come out too bad. 

“Those were some flashy moves there ____. Not bad. Where’d you pick up those moves anyways?” Nero asked.

Your mouth moved before your brain registered the question. “…Required training. We’re going to be sent on solo missions soon…if we graduate today….” You chuckled weakly, oh that sounded much worse when you said it aloud, bringing home the point that you should’ve kept your mouth shut. “So, we trained hard to increase our chances of coming back.”

“Shit, that’s just fucked up.”

You protested, trying to defend the reasoning. “You don’t know the mess that’s going down back home. Better to save people with a capable army than a group of newbies without a clue. It’s _necessary_.” You groaned, regretting it the minute the words left your lips, was that _really_ the best you could come up with? What was wrong with you today!? Talk about foot in mouth syndrome.

Both Nico and Nero gave you extremely skeptical looks.

“What the hell are they teaching you back in your world?” 

You shrugged and could only offer them a rather watery, and pitiful smile. “How to be a hero of course.” You joked weakly.

They let your comment slide, for now. It was painfully clear that you actually hadn’t thought to seriously question the dubious training your employers put you through. Nero had seen your type before, back when he was rising up the ranks in the Order of the Sword. Kids like you made perfect soldiers, because you were the type to try hard and make people proud of you and you had that eager kicked puppy look that made some people want to take advantage of that. He knew it would’ve been too easy to get you wrapped up in a shit story about being a hero to get you recruited because you had such a terrible sense of wanting to please people you felt were superior to you and to not be a disappointment.

It made his blood boil to think about you being pulled into that cycle of misplaced martyrism.

“Forget about being a hero ____. Just worry about protecting the people you care about.” He said gruffly, stalking to the back of the van to grab a drink.

Nico smirked at his retreating back, seeing the pink flush at the tips of his ears. Then turning to you, she was about to reiterate his hard-earned advice but stopped herself when you were passed out cold and snoring lightly.

“Geez girlie, way to ruin the moment.” And then, softly, “I really hope you heard that last part, cause the world don’t need any more dumbass heroes to die for it.”


	7. Make it Official

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.22.19

### Make it Official

“Hey _____, this look familiar to you?” Nero handed you a slip of wrinkled paper.

“Oh! This is part of a standard issued manual the Liberators hand out once you start training.”

You skimmed through the page –

**#6 On Devil Summoners** \- _Individuals equipped with special technology that allows them to summon demons to do their bidding. The role requires little training and requires that the summoner only have an affinity for the technology. Able to command up to four demons at once as long as they can keep the demons’ respect. However there are documented cases where trainees disrespected their demons and are devoured by them as punishment._

The page ended right there.

“This one is about the other type hunters I work with. The Devil Summoners. Every cult and organization in existence right now has armies of summoners working for them. I guess it’s probably because the summoning tech is easily made.”

Nero hummed, “That sounds a little bit like V. Except his demons seem to come out of the tattoos on his body.”

“You haven’t heard back from him yet?”

He ran his fingers through his hair, “No, but the bastard will show up when it’s convenient. As far as I know, he’s operating on his own agenda most of the time.” Nero had to say though, it was an annoying habit the summoner had.

You detected the bite of annoyance in his tone and decided to change the subject. “Nico told me a little bit of the business you guys run.”

“Devil May Cry? Yeah, it’s a gig I picked up to help pay the bills after my city got smashed from some demons and I was out of a job. Heh, coincidentally, that mess happened because of a cult too.”

You chuckled, “It sounds like we have a bit in common.” _’Although, what is with cults trying to summon demons anyways? Don’t they have anything better to do?’_

Nero leaned back in his seat, “Hey lemme ask you this, what do you think is going on with all this?” He waved a hand, gesturing outside. “Since you know a bit more about this place, what’s your take?”

“Honestly, it’s probably some demon trying to do some ritual to get stronger. They’re just like humans in that sense. Except, unlike humans, demons have to harvest an insane amount of souls to get anything done. But I don’t know why that is. It’s that weird difference that makes demons flock to a powerful human, because once that human gains enough power, they could try to eat his soul instead of going through the work to get what they need themselves.”

A demon trying to become more powerful…That brought Nero’s mind back to the events happening back home. He hoped that while they were stuck in this alternate dimension that everything would still standing once he got back. Because every second spent here meant more time that issue could get out of hand.

“Heh, well that’s probably why people like us exist. To teach these dumbasses a lesson.” He got up and checked his prosthetic arm. It was starting to creak as he wiggled his fingers experimentally. “Hmm, might have to get a refill from Nico before I go out.” Nero would only internally admit to himself, these new arms were sweet. 

“I’ll be back soon before you know it.”

You got up to your feet too, “Hey wait I’m coming with you.” It rankled you that Nero was thinking about leaving you behind. 

“Geez, sit back down would ya? You just got your ass handed to you by those imposters of me, you’re in no shape to do anything.”

“I’m not going to slow you down Nero.” You insisted, “I may be an amateur but I still get the perks of being a Persona user even if it’s not fully awakened yet.” You began tugging at the bandages to show that the wounds on your arms and hands were nearly healed over. “Take a look for yourself.”

He scratched the back of his head at the mulish look on your face. He really didn’t feel right about dragging you into danger, considering how badly you came out from your last battle. But (maybe) because you were starting to grow on him (just a little!), he sighed and gave in. “Tch, fine. But I’m taking the lead, if I tell you to drop it and run, you do it, alright? Or else I’ll get Nico to tie you to the passenger seat and make you miss out on the fun.”

“Understood oh fearless leader!” You quipped, giving him a salute.

Nero rolled his eyes and geared up. You were so strange and you were starting to get way too comfortable with teasing him, Nico was such a bad influence on you. “Come on then, let’s go see if V is around. No doubt he’s probably figured out something we haven’t yet, and I’d like to know what that is.”

Nero was clearing the way ahead.

“Tch. There’s no end to all these demons.”

The more demons Nero defeated the less he learned about what they could be facing up against. Each demon killed continuously mentioned the Mother over and over with no real explanation that he hadn’t heard already, he was getting sick of it. 

Worriedly, there was still no sign of Dante anywhere as he pressed on after V. He was hoping to run into the older hunter considering what had happened earlier. Dead weight indeed, he’d show him who the dead weight is. 

“Nero…there you are.”

V watched him approach with an unusually stern expression. “You must stop killing the demons. Now.”

“What – why the hell would I do that!? Killing these demons is the only way we can get to Mother and get back home.”

V sighed, “Then there is no avoiding it, I’ll just have to stop you myself.” 

Shadow roared from the tattoos swirling on his body and pinned Nero down. 

“Seriously? What the hell is this V!?”

“You need to listen to me. You have misunderstood the situation. The demons here have told us that Limbus is a place where powerful souls are harvested…however those with power…”

“That’s enough.” A large demon, grotesque in its form as a gargantuan fly appeared.

Annoyance flashed across V’s face, “I figured you’d find me eventually.”

The veined wings on the demon, Beelzebub, flapped and kicked up clouds of dust and ash. “The true nature of this place does not concern any of you. Be content to play with the demons here and accept your fates.” Tendrils of energy wrapped around V before he could react and cocooned him tightly. Shadow snarled and leapt at the demon, only to be dispelled with a powerful blast of magic. Having no more business with the humans, it leapt off with V in tow. This human needed to be taught a lesson about snooping around.

“V! Hey wait, come back here!”

Nero clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. What did V mean by misunderstanding the situation? His instincts were prickling in alarm, he was starting to get a bad feeling about all this.

“Nero!” You bent over to brace yourself on your knees as you caught your breath, “Dammit, when someone tells you to wait, you wait!” Geez, you swear that he just ran off on purpose in a last ditch attempt to get you to stay behind.

“You’d probably run faster if you weren’t carrying a sword that’s bigger than you.” He quipped, looking pointedly at the gunblade strapped to your hip. He noticed that it wasn’t quite the same one you had him bring back. It had embellishments on it that screamed that Nico’s handiwork all over it. He wondered what type of “enhancements” she made to it and also hoped that it doesn’t accidentally kill him while you figure out how to use it. “Where’d you pick that up anyways?”

“It’s on loan from Nico,” You said reluctantly, already feeling the drain on your wallet as you recalled the price she quoted to you. You had been ecstatic when she approached you with this beautiful piece of work, the gunblade she cobbled from what she deemed inferior materials was still far better than anything you could have been issued from the Liberators and it was easily an upgrade from the one you salvaged earlier. However you almost regretted taking it from her when she began to lecture you on the parts and labor and handed you an itemized bill. 

_’I owe way too many people…ugh maybe it was a better idea to just have died…the collection agency can’t come after me if I’m dead right?’_

Nero burst into laughter, actually feeling tears prickle from his eyes. “She got you too huh? I swear she’s a loan shark in disguise.”

You grinned wryly, “Being in debt for life is something I’m used to since I joined the Liberators. Apparently there’s lots of administrative fees and costs that comes with demon hunting.”

Nero snorted in agreement, “Don’t I know it. The cuts to my pay is so ridiculous after all those finder’s fees and then the fees for property damage...there’s never enough to pay the bills…” _’Not to mention all the hours I have to clock in. Geez, I’ll never be able to go with Kyrie on a vacation at this rate.’_

You looked around, noticing suddenly that V was nowhere to be found. “What happened to the tall, dark mystery man? Didn’t you say he was here?”

“Tch. Some ugly fly demon kidnapped him.” 

“Well…” You trailed off, scanning around, pointing in the distance. “I’m going to bet that speck in the sky is probably them. Looks like they’re heading up towards that mountain.” 

“Let’s get going then, the sooner we find him, the sooner we can get some answers.” 

You traveled in silence for some time, the two of you working together to bring down the demons as they came to challenge you. Now that you could examine him better up close, you noticed that Nero’s style was rather destructive and incredibly flashy. Several times you had to jump out of the way to avoid his bullets or his damned Devil Breaker flying around. You made an attempt to scold him but he just brushed it off and instead took the time between battles to criticize everything about your fighting style. Your stances were solid but boringly basic. You sucked at parrying. You’re wasting too much energy trying to take it out in one hit instead of trying to wear it down. It was the same generic crap that foot soldiers got from people whose job was to just push out battle fodder. It was irritating the hell out of him.

“Geez ____, you lean to the left too much. And just fucking roll to dodge, you wouldn’t get tired so fast if you actually stop wasting your time and energy throwing yourself all over the place. You had such a shitty ass trainer, it’s not funny. If that’s the standard combat style your group is teaching you then your world is doomed.”

“Nero, are you _seriously_ lecturing me right now?” You raised an eyebrow, torn between irritation and amusement. You didn’t really see anything wrong with the training you were given, it was working just fine. Who knew Nero had such high standards when it came to combat?

He pinched the bridge of his nose and glared sternly over at you, “Just pay attention, alright? I’m trying to save your ass here before you do something stupid.” 

“So you have decided to come, foolish humans. You have been little pests, scuttling back and forth. Although it has been a source of amusement.”

You couldn’t help wrinkle your nose when you caught your first glimpse of Beelzebub, the demon lord of the flies. Ugh…there was something so inherently disturbing about those multi-faceted eyes twitching at you. Not to mention the stench of garbage…

Nero grinned and jammed the Red Queen into the ground, revving it in challenge. “Come on then, I’m ready bring the hurt!”

The buzzing grew louder as the demon struck at you with his magic. You grunted and dropped to a knee when you felt suddenly drained and fatigued. Shit, it stole some of your stamina. “That was a cheap shot!” You shouted. 

It gripped a staff made of human skulls in one claw - a dark mist discharged from it towards Nero. The energy was heavy, oily; you recognized what it was. Poison. You fought the nausea that resulted from the stamina drain, and pulled yourself back to your feet. Your arms trembled in exertion as you brought your gunblade up, aiming the revolver portion at the staff. Your first two shots missed, but your third managed to pierce through a wing. You broke its concentration and the slow crawl of the poison came to a stop.

“Don’t let it get you with any of its poison Nero!”

Nero ignored your words and dove in recklessly with his sword, with his gun raining bullets on Beelzebub. You clicked your tongue at his gleeful expression, like a kid at a toy store you thought. There was nothing else you could do, you turned your attention to the weaker demons that appeared; drawn by the sounds of battle. Beelzebub was far out of your league. Nero was more than capable, you’ll leave him to it while you focus on the small fry to keep the distractions to a minimum. 

Gunshots rang out and you were able to catch a glimpse of Beelzebub falling to the ground with all of his wings shredded. Your attention was pulled back to your own battle as you blocked a claw from the demon you were engaging with the flat of your blade. You struck back twice as hard. You were cursing at the demon, feeling the battle fatigue set in much sooner than it should have. The adrenaline was starting to wear off but you let your anger fuel you and hoped that it would be enough to get you out of this in one piece. You pulled the trigger of your gunblade and watched in satisfaction as the demon crumbled into dust.

“About time, I thought you were going to take forever playing with that thing.”

You glowered at Nero, who was smiling smugly for having defeated the demon sooner than you. Behind him, Beelzebub lay split – thorax wise – in half. _’Is there anything that can slow this guy down?’_

“How amusing, that humans – no demon butchers will be the ones to ascend to Mother. The last powerful soul now returns to become one with the Great Mother. Once you reach her, you will do well to look upon your handiwork and despair…”

Nero leveled a gun at the demon, “What does that mean?”

“Why don’t you ask your friend there? He figured it out heehee.” Beelzebub’s ashes were swept away with the wind.

“V – you alright?” Nero jogged over to check on the crumpled form of the demon summoner.

You left Nero to converse with V and walked back towards the RV, feeling the immense need to sit down and catch your breath. The back to back battles was really taking a toll on you physically and mentally. You hadn’t quite gotten your stamina up to par before all this. Adding the shenanigans from the Lord of the Flies, you were definitely not feeling up to your best right now. The human body was not meant to go through this type of continuous strain. 

_’Stupid mental block, now would be a great time for my Persona to wake up.’_

You had been told that a Persona will awaken during moments of great duress, but apparently all your close calls didn’t count. So what, did you have to actually die for your potential to kick in?

Hmm? Your thoughts rolled to a stop.

An ethereal, royal blue butterfly swirled around you before fluttering towards the side of the RV. You rubbed at your eyes but when you blinked, it wasn’t there anymore. There was something strangely familiar about that butterfly…

**With V and Nero ----**

“So? Tell me what is going on V.” 

“There is no need to look so fierce, Nero. I am still acting in our best interests.” V lightly tapped his cane on Nero’s shoulder. “I have discovered the location of Mother. I will show you the way.”

“Yeah? That’s awfully convenient, how did you manage to figure that out?”

V raised his arm for Griffon to perch on, “I had some….assistance in scouting the area. I also gleaned some very important information.” His expression darkened, “This Mother is actually a demon known famously by the moniker ‘The Harlot of Babylon’. We have been duped into playing right into her hands Nero and I fear for the worst.”

“How bad is it?”

“When we first arrived, we assumed that based on the information garnered from those other demons, it was our souls that were being hunted. However, we have it backwards…we were summoned to be hunters for the Harlot…and all those swarms of demons ambushing us now makes a grim sense.”

“Wait…all the demons we’ve been killing, have been making this demon stronger?” Nero scowled at the realization that they had been played.

“Indeed. Which is why we must hasten and bring Mother down before we inadvertently give her the souls she needs to complete her ritual.”

“Tch, fine come on let’s get back to the girls and get them up to speed.” Nero hated it when his gut was right about things getting worse.

**Back at the RV----**

“Great, the gang’s back together!” Nico puffed away at a cigarette, listening closely as V summarized his findings for everyone.

“Nico – we’re gonna need your help to get us as close to the center of Limbus as you can. And the faster we get there, the better.”

“Alright, I’m on it.”

“So what’s the plan now?” You had a sinking feeling though at what his answer was going to be. 

“The same plan we always had. Kicking demon ass until we solve the problem.” Nero grinned widely.

Yup…you called it. “Okay, I’m helping too.” You huffed a little in self-derision, these guys were starting to be a bad influence on you. You were actually feeling a little excited at going into battle with a well-known and dangerous Fiend. Emphasis on dangerous. Your usual caution and self-preservation instincts apparently had taken a hike. It made you grin in response.

“Hey, you’re getting it now, if you’re gonna kill demons, might as well enjoy it.” He stuck his real hand out at you. “Since we’re all going in together to bring down Mother, from one hunter to another, let’s make the team official.” Heh, you were really growing on him.

You didn’t hesitate to reciprocate with a smile, “Deal.” You grasped his hand, firmly shaking it.

Somehow, they didn’t seem so hostile as before.

You weren’t going to complain about that. _’Well, don’t I feel all warm and fuzzy…’_

From the corner of your eye, you thought you saw V’s lips twitch faintly upwards.


	8. The Two Riders of the Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.22.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If something can go wrong, it will…and usually at the worst time.  
> (Murphy’s law)

### The Two Riders of the Apocalypse

Some time later, you found yourself gripping a tattooed wrist tightly, startled out of your sleep by the sensation of someone hovering over you. You blinked several times, your blurry vision clearing to show V’s patient expression. “Sorry…” You quickly released your death grip on him. “Is it time to go already?” Biting back a yawn, you sat up.

“There is still a bit of time before we depart.” He said quietly, his gaze evaluating your wide eyed, blood shot expression.

“You do not sleep well?” He finally asked. You were mumbling in your sleep earlier, something about the shadows being terribly hungry.

You rubbed your eyes tiredly, wishing for an energy drink, “Insomnia…” You yawned behind your hand, feeling your jaw crack. _’Okay, I’m a lost cause right now.’_

“G’morning sleepy heads, rise and shine. It’s a new day with the same shit on the menu.” Griffon fluttered in, settling by you.

You were half asleep and you blamed the lack of rest but you couldn’t help but pet the demon familiar like he was a dog. “A talking, annoying alarm clock. It’s like being back at the dorms…” You mused out loud with a fond, exasperated look on your face.

“Hey – watch the feathers doll-face, you’re pulling at them!” He nipped at your hand sharply.

You pulled your hand back and glared, feeling wide awake now.

“Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you.” 

You were really surprised by that, you didn’t take him to be a poetry lover, a _Romantic_ poetry lover at that. “That…I recognize that…William Blake right?” With all the black and tattoos and the bird demon with the crude jokes, William Blake was the last thing that came to mind. 

He simply smiled at you, quite happy that here was someone that did not outright rib him about his fondness for quoting of poetry. 

V had let go of his suspicions of you some time ago, noting that you behaved much differently than the demonic denizens of Limbus and other than a few flashes of annoyance, you didn’t seem to have much in terms of malicious intent towards them. He also trusted Nico and Nero’s judgement of your character, having been filled in with what they gleaned about you, he came to the same conclusions they did. So, mind at ease, that left him free to indulge in his curiosity of you. “Tell me a little more of your home world, I find that the thought of other worlds quite fascinating.”

“Now? I guess there’s time for that while we wait for Nero to get ready.” You got and up stretched, hearing your spine pop in several places. 

V motioned you over to the table, your eyes lit up when you noticed a freshly brewed pot of coffee. Caffeine! You took a few sips after you fixed your cup and sighed in bliss before continuing. “I live in a metropolis of sorts. A lot of cults run around nowadays, summoning demons like they were going out of style. The cities are still mostly in one piece, but you can’t get around on your own anymore. Not without either paying for protection or joining up with one of the cults/organizations fighting with each other.”

“And you are a member of such an organization, correct? I recall that you called them, Liberators?”

“Yeah, our motto is to Liberate Humankind from Demons,” You snorted seeing V raise a questioning eyebrow at the motto, “Don’t ask me who came up with that though. We just go around trying to take down and dismantle as many cults as we can while trying to close up the rips connecting Limbus to the Human world.”

“An admirable goal, even if it seems somewhat futile. Would it not be easier to concentrate your efforts on putting an end to all this once and for all?”

You shrugged, unsure of how to answer that. “I think…” You said slowly, trying to gather your thoughts in a way that made sense, “I think our group’s objective is only focused on damage control… And the Liberators don’t have enough firepower to bring down the biggest cults on our own…We could try to join up with the other organizations out there, but everyone’s got their own agenda that doesn’t mesh with ours. So unless we can expand, we’re just stuck doing what we can to minimize the casualties.” 

Yes, you felt that was the right sentiment. After all, with everything plunged into Chaos, there were a lot of groups that preferred to take advantage of it to make their profits. Your group was one of the few that wanted to return the world back to the control of humans but with heavy and strict regulations on demon summoning. It wasn’t a very popular stance though. You sighed and drained your cup, “Active evil is better than passive good – for whatever that’s worth, at least we’re still doing something, whether it’s good or a necessary evil, we’re doing our best to save humankind and I can stand by that.”

You flushed under the warm gleam of approval in his eyes as he recognized the nod to his favorite poet thrown in and your determination in doing what you believed was right. 

“How tragic…” He murmured, pouring a generous amount of cream into his cup. “It appears that the same story of collecting power using demons is not exclusive to ours. And as such, there seems to always be a need for hunters like us.”

“Heh, well at least it keeps people like us in business.” 

He hummed, “Given the circumstances, I suppose our meeting was inevitable. All those that deal with demons eventually cross paths.”

You wondered at the sense of déjà vu at those words.

Where have you heard that before?

**\----**

It didn’t take very long before Nico ran out of clear road to drive over. She just simply waved you out and stated that she’ll find her way back to everyone before speeding off.

Of course, just your luck, it didn’t take very long before you encountered another strong demon.

V stopped everyone at a healthy distance from the demon rampaging ahead amongst broken stone structures. Pieces of buildings perhaps?

“Nero, save your strength and allow me to take the lead on this one.” He turned to you with an outstretched hand and a devilish smirk, “Come ____, this will be the perfect opportunity for us to learn each other’s battle styles.” The young hunter had filled V in about what he’s seen and the summoner found himself quite eager to see exactly what you were made of. Examining a new battle style was always beneficial in improving his own.

You flashed him a confident smirk of your own and shouldered your gunblade, “Alright Lord Byron*, show me what you’ve got!” You giggled at the flash of distaste that crossed his face.

“Ah, insulting me with my least favorite poet,” He tsk’d at you and lightly tapped your head with his cane. “Mind your manners and take care not to repeat your mistake.”

The tattoos on his body glowed briefly and in a puff of black mist, Griffon and Shadow appeared. The avian demon decided to settle himself on your shoulder, so he could coach you through on what to expect. 

“Ah-ha, joining us today doll-face? Alrighty, then here’s the rundown! The big cat and I are in charge of weakening the enemies but Shakespeare here needs to give it the finishing blow. It’s important that you let him take down as many demon as he can because that cane of his absorbs some of the magic of the demons, which in turn he can use to recharge our attacks and keep us summoned longer. I usually go in with lightning magic and Shadow likes to play with his food by turning into sharp spikes and blades – so watch out for that.”

“That should be sufficient for now Griffon. Come, there is no better way than to continue the lesson in live battle.” V sprinted forward with Shadow at his side.

“Heh, keep your eyes peeled toots!” He pushed off your shoulder and glided towards the demon, already crackling with magic.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back V!” You followed after them, readying a finger on the trigger.

**"---And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.--”** The robed demon turned to the group approaching. It was saddled on a fiery red horse, a large sword gripped in a skeletal hand. The demon gave you chills as the empty orbital sockets assessed you. The horse reared at his command, braying fiercely in challenge. “I am the Red Rider, my crimson armor shall glisten with your blood!”

“Alright toots, remember what I said? Let’s get cracking!”

Griffon started off rapidly blasting at the demon with charged lightning balls, distracting the Red Rider so Shadow could launch himself into the fray as a bladed wheel. You and V split and slowly circled towards opposites sides of the demon while gauging the worth of a pincer attack. V was directing Griffon and Shadow masterfully, warning them of incoming attacks from the Rider’s sword before they could be hit and instructing them when to attack. You provided support by darting in and out with your gunblade, alternating between slashing at the hind quarters of the crimson horse and firing bullets directly at the Rider. So far so good…it seemed the Rider was having trouble trying to divide its attention between you and V.

“You are proving a bit more of a challenge than I expected humans. Let me reward you.” The demon raised his sword high and two winged demons appeared at his side, armed with shields and spears. 

“Everyone fall back and regroup!” V commanded. 

Griffon, Shadow and yourself rushed back to form a wall in front of the summoner. 

“Hoo, gonna call out the big boy V? That’s probably a good idea since we’re not making much of a dent in this guy. Geez, the bag of bones up there has been drinking his milk!”

“I have one more summon _____, his name is Nightmare. He has a rather…dramatic entrance, as you shall see. In future battles, when I call everyone back to regroup – it will because of him.”

“Ok, got it.” You readjusted your grip on the handle of your gunblade as V raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Your eyes widened as you saw Nightmare falling from the sky as a large meteor of doom crashing from the heavens that landed right on top of the demons. The resulting impact incapacitated the two summoned demons, Powers – you remembered they were called. 

“Remember to keep an eye on the big lug toots! He usually knows not to attack any of us, but watch out when he starts up with the laser eye!”

You nodded and followed after Griffon to bring the Power closest to you down with V trailing close behind. A few rounds of your bullets – Nico made them explode in ice somehow! – froze the demon. V leapt above your heads and slammed the point of his cane down into the demon, a fierce look of triumph on his face.

“Hie thee home!”

A small part of your brain wondered if V had a habit of quoting poetry for _**everything**_. Wait, now was NOT the time to think about if he did that while having sex too! 

_’Get a grip _____,’_ You mentally groaned, why do you always have to think of inappropriate thoughts at the wrong times!? 

Shadow roared on the other side, cornered by the Red Rider and the remaining Power. You fired off another round of bullets, and again managed to freeze the Power in place. Griffon weaved back and forth, trying to catch the attention of the Rider away from the feline. Nightmare lumbered closer to the Rider, his hulking arms raining down heavy blows at the demon in an effort to unseat him.

“V! I can get in and finish off the small fry – get to the Rider!”

You raised your gunblade and darted off. A series of quick slashes from you finished off the demon quickly with Shadow’s help in skewering it from behind. Behind you, V had leapt up on Nightmare’s shoulder and used him as a launching point to get close to the Rider.

“Return it to the underworld!” It loosed an unearthly wail, crumbling into dust and nothingness as V’s cane glowed brightly from the immense amount of magic absorbed. 

“Not bad ____!” Griffon fluttered over to your shoulder, nearly sending you crashing to the ground in surprise as the sudden addition of weight unbalanced you momentarily. “Could use a bit of polishing up though, you nearly took your own head off a couple times!” He cackled.

“Don’t celebrate just yet…” V walked up to your side, eyes narrowed at a figure approaching rapidly towards you. “It seems there is yet another visitor.”

Wait – you recognize that red hair –

“Ko!” You jogged over to the woman that appeared, a grin across your face. A familiar face! Man were you glad to see Koudelka in a place like this, she would know --

But as you approached closer, you slowed to a stop, a frown creasing your brows as your eyes flickered at her in confusion. It became immediately obvious what was throwing you off…her bright blue eyes were soulless and flat, but her lips were stretched in a disturbing parody of a smile. 

“____, perfect timing! I’ve been looking all over for you!” She chirped, **too brightly.**

“V I don’t like the look of this chick, we gotta get ____ away!” Griffon hissed into V’s ear.

“Ko..? Are you alright? Did you run into any of the others?” Alarms were ringing loudly in your head, the hairs on the back of your neck and arms prickled. There was an all too familiar chill emanating from her…But you tried to brush it off, weren’t you just being too paranoid? Come on, this was your mentor!

She laughed, baring all of her teeth menacingly. “Oh ____, you’re so disgustingly _considerate_!” She clapped excitedly, but her eyes were flat and expressionless, the smiles never reaching them. “But that’s really all an act isn’t it? I know deep down you’re just so lonely and clingy, you’ll do anything, even though we all could care less about you!” She snickered again. “You’ve got no self-esteem and the only reason that made it worth keeping you around was because you followed orders so well!” Her face twisted into an ugly sneer.

You took a step back, mind reeling at the vitriol directed at you. You didn’t understand this at all, where was this coming from? Ko…Koudelka had been your mentor, your trainer…she pushed you hard because she believed that you could handle it and it was to help you get stronger…so then why…? Was it really true that no one cared about you, but that couldn’t be right…She had been there that day…the day everything changed for you…

“Oh? Speechless, _____? Hah, you’re so quiet because everything I’m saying is true, isn’t it?” She taunted. “Poor ____, naïve, _gullible_ ____. You’re so willfully blind to the truth in front of you. It’s no wonder it was so easy to take advantage of you. You’ve got the kicked puppy routine down perfectly!”

“That is enough from you, demon. We have a more pressing engagement than to waste time with the likes of you.” V shifted you behind him, motioning for Shadow to nudge you back farther in case the woman taunting you attacked. “If I must, I will simply force you out of our way.” His voice deepened into a warning growl.

Her eyes drifted over to V and his familiars standing protectively over you. “How sweet…” She cooed, “You made some friends to die for you. I have some time to play a little, just sit back ____, I’ll be done soon.”

“Hah – don’t under estimate us you crazy bitch. I’m gonna fry you like a little piggy!” 

“My, My – always the damsel in distress aren’t you, _____?” Ko continued on, ignoring V. “For all the potential you have, you’re the most pathetic Persona-user I’ve ever seen. Your Persona probably hasn’t gotten its form yet, has it?” At your flinch, she threw her head back and laughed chillingly. “I knew it! Ah…but that will make things much easier…in fact…why don’t I just get to the point already hmm? I’ve made you an appointment with Mother…”

“Hey now, don’t leave me out of the fun guys!” Nero interrupted, running up the moment he felt the large flare of demonic energy appear. He had seen the Red Rider go down but his sharp eyes caught the swirl of ash that materialized into the red haired woman that stood in their way. His instincts told him that THIS was going to be more of a challenge than the Red Rider. V and ____ were going to need all the help they could get.

The woman gestured and a stream of fire hurtled towards you. Yelping, you threw yourself out of the way. “What the hell!? Ko, are you insane!?” You demanded angrily.

She tilted her head at you before shaping large whorls of fire in both her hands. “Always talking, talking – remember what I’ve told you several times. You focus on the battle, there is no point in negotiating with an enemy that has no interest in it.” She lectured calmly, just like how she used to.

V grabbed your arm to stop you from charging recklessly at her, eyes flickering over discreetly at Nero who was coming in hot from behind her. V commanded Shadow to attack Ko straight on, to keep her distracted. 

“____! Now is not the time to let her unnerve you!”

You glared hotly at him, yanking your arm out of his grasp forcefully. You clicked another round of bullets into the gunblade and moved to flank V alongside Griffon. “Just shut up and let me teach her a lesson.” You practically snarled.

“Whoa there doll-face, calm down yeah? Don’t just go ….rushing in.” He trailed off when you did just that. “Ooh boy, we got ourselves another idiot to save.”

Ko flashed quickly to the side, letting both you and Nero collide into each other. Thankfully, you both managed to stop your momentum just enough to let your blades graze one another while you threw yourselves to the opposite sides without any harm. Steel rang in your ears.

“Lesson #2 ____, you never allow yourself to lose your cool in battle like that. You will cost your friends their lives.” She continued to lecture you. “Tsk, if you still can’t even put those lessons to use after all this time, then you’re just useless in battle. You may as well just give up now.”

_’Is she fucking serious!?’_ Maybe you should’ve questioned why she continuously provoked you like this, if you had been less vulnerable from her earlier remarks, you might have questioned the bizarre intensity to which you were reacting to everything. But all you could see was red, your focus zeroed in so narrowly on only her that you could hardly register the others trying to keep you in check.

Your fury fueled you forward, giving you the speed and strength of a berserker. But you were slipping too far towards the edge of battle rage. “I am going to shut your fucking mouth! I’ll show you who the fucking damsel in distress is! **I am not useless**!” You snarled, barreling at her with everything you had.

Your gunblade slashed at thin air. You whirled around and fired off as many of the ice bullets as you can, finger clicking the trigger rapidly. You know this tactic, it was a favorite of hers. To just stand there waiting one minute and the next, pop up close behind you to get a hit in before you could react. There! She grunted and staggered back as the ice shocked her for a moment. You blade was already sharply descending down fast – then you saw Ko’s eyes widen in terror and glistening with tears. 

It was enough to make you hesitate and alter the trajectory.

Big mistake.

An explosion of pain and you were thrown back with scorch marks over your arms and legs. 

“Lesson #3 – I can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book. Didn’t I already tell you? It’s all an act.” She said sweetly, advancing on you. “I don’t even understand why we bothered recruiting you.” Another gesture and you dropped to your knees, feeling her drain your stamina and energy. 

She continued to make her way towards where you fell, while deftly dodging V and Nero. “You were a pitiful thing when I came across you that day. Just like how you are now.” She tsk’d, bending down to grab a fistful of your hair and raise your face upwards. “You just willingly sat there and swallowed that nonsense the Liberators fed you. If you didn’t have the potential, we had orders to just kill on sight in case you were already possessed by your Shadow.”

_'…what…?'_

“Ahh, you didn’t know did you?” She leaned in closer, her smile wickedly sharp, “You were identified with the potential. But just to be sure…we…sent…demons…to…attack you… **on purpose** , just to be sure we weren’t wrong.” She said softly, so softly before slamming you face first into the ground. You didn’t move, stunned completely by the revelations. “There’s also one other thing you might want to know…Every Persona user that becomes a Liberator, we’ve made sure they fail themselves…” She cooed, knowing that you understood the implications of that last statement.

She turned around and leapt out of the way as Nero’s sword narrowly missed eviscerating her. She tsk’d again, “We’re having a conversation here boy, don’t be so rude.”

Griffon and Shadow attacked from behind together as a bladed wheel, crackling with lightning crashing into her back and launching her further away from you. “Alright chatty Cathy, that’s enough outta you.”

Ko only continued to laugh maniacally, as a swirl of white smoke curled around her, enveloping her body. The mist flared wildly around her and trailed off into the sky, leaving her true form revealed. In her place was a skeletal demon, scythe in hand and perched atop a pale white steed. 

**”And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”** Ko …no the Pale Rider raised her scythe straight at you, “No more playing! Your soul is mine!” She screamed, charging full speed for your head.

Nero leapt to cross his sword with the Pale Rider. V directed Griffon to stay back with you and instead had Shadow twist his form into a flurry of spikes, in an attempt to impale the demon in place.

The demon screamed in frustration when she realized that Nero and V wouldn’t be pushovers. “Fine – if you wish to die that badly, I will grant you Death!” The horse galloped and the scythe shifted into a wickedly pointed spear. She caught Nero by surprise and slammed it deep into his right shoulder. With a show of immense strength, she lifted him high in the air and flung him off the spear into V. V quickly sidestepped Nero but caught a fireball to the back that slammed him into the side of a large piece of concrete. Nero groaned as he tried to roll onto his uninjured side.

Seeing an opportunity, the spear shifted back into a scythe again and she charged at you.

“______! MOVE!”

Griffon gripped your shoulders in his talons and deftly moved you out of harm’s way, depositing you closer to Nero and V. “Doll-face – this is NO time to go ragdoll on us, wake the fuck up!” He shot a few sparks at you, jolting you out of your stupor. “Come on! Wipe that stupid look off your face, we gotta keep movin’ unless you wanna be shish-kabob!” He urged, keeping an eye on the enraged demon barreling at them again.

_’Shit, shit, shit…’_ You chanted in your head, unable to stop the shaking that immobilized you. _’I need to move, I need to help!’_ You struggled, you needed to MOVE! Why were you freezing now? You gritted your teeth and felt tears of frustration at your eyes, **You weren’t even that injured so why won’t you move!**

“Poor _____, when it really matters, you’re just a disappointment aren’t you? Just look at you trembling, ah-ha, it’s just like that day isn’t? That brings back precious memories…”

“Tch, man you just don’t know when to shut up do you. You’re one of the most annoying demons I’ve ever met.” Nero taunted. He twisted off the Devil Breaker he currently had equipped and replaced it. He experimentally made a fist with it and grinned, “Time to try out the new toy Nico made. Punchline!”

Nero leapt high, bringing his sword up into an uppercut and launched the Pale Rider in the air. He discharged the Punchline and hopped on it, riding it as if it were a skateboard. “Woohoo – now this is more like it!” He rocketed closer to the demon and with precision, quickly leapt off, letting the arm detonate into the demon’s face.

Nightmare was waiting below, catching the falling demon with a bone crunching clap of his hands. The Pale Rider collapsed to the ground, scythe broken in pieces with flames licking at its robes. The demon glared balefully as Nero and V advanced. You finally were able to struggle to your feet. 

You-you had to understand…what the fuck is going on!? This couldn’t be true, right? This was just a demon, a faker like those Nero doppelgängers…right? This demon didn’t know anything! It had to be lying!

You felt a strange, burning sensation crawl up your throat…it tasted like rage and disillusionment. It made you sick and your head spin feverishly. You recognized what the emptiness you were feeling from her was now. Ko traded in the essence of herself…your stomach churned as you processed the implications. “How could you give up your Persona like this?” You were horrified. The Persona was the aspect of the user that was used to fight but…it was also the representation of the Ideal Self that one accepted and acknowledged. A testament that you understood yourself so well that despite your perceived flaws, you were at peace with the truest version of you. Good and bad. So to give up her Persona…Koudelka had essentially threw **herself** away and became an empty shell.

“So naïve, even when the answer is right in front of you. Don’t be so narrow minded ____, I made a deal for more power.”

That vehement declaration made everyone look at her in disdain. 

“Power, that’s it!?” You demanded angrily, feeling unsatisfied by such a cliché response, “Even though that’s the same exact reason why our world – I can’t believe you! There are people that are dying because someone was arrogant enough to summon demons to get their way; how could you become the very thing that we’re supposed to be fighting against! We’re supposed to be the heroes, we all took that oath to bring back humans their freedom from the demons! How do you justify turning your back on that!?”

She cut you off with a snarl, “You are such a fool. Before you start spouting that self-righteous nonsense, read through this and then decide if you still want to believe in the drivel the Liberators crammed down our throats. I’ll be watching from Hell to see you break when you realize the truth. I’m finished with talking, either finish me off now and I will do it myself.”

You caught the battered notebook she threw at you. You automatically tucked it away in a pocket and stepped back, holding yourself in an attempt to ward off the chill creeping on you.

“V, Nero – do it. We’re wasting time.” _’I feel so sick. Sick in deep places that no one can reach.’_ Your conditioning had you confronting your own inner demons already, this shouldn’t have gotten to you so easily…she shouldn’t have gotten under your skin like that. Was it…was it possible that you maybe hadn’t fully accepted yourself? _Or was I already set up for failure by the Liberators…if what she said was true, what if the training wasn’t to help me accept myself but…failing myself…?_

You stayed motionless as they finished the job. Your eyes expressionless and never once wavering from hers as the demon crumbled into dust, leaving behind a Dx2 armband.

“I am sorry,” V stated quietly to you, nudging you away from the battle site while Nero gathered what he could for Nico’s experiments, sensing that you needed a gentler hand in comfort right now. There was a pause as he sifted through for the right words to say. You were still in a state of shock, he noticed the tremors in your hands even as you tried to keep yourself together. “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate are necessary to human existence…____, whatever her reasons were for bringing what she perceived were your flaws to focus, you must bear in mind that they are also the cornerstones of the strength I have seen displayed in our time together. You have an ideal that you are continuously fighting for, it is not an easy feat a weaker person could handle.”

“Heh..” A tremulous smile quirked your lips, “The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. Thank you V.” 

You felt gratitude for the faint bonds that were forming between yourself and the Devil Hunters. It was a comfort that you used to sloppily stitch back together the pieces of your beliefs Ko had savagely ripped to shreds. You had to keep it together – if not for yourself, then for the Devil Hunters who were starting to become important to you. You were useless to them if you let this cripple you from fighting by their sides. And you didn’t want to let them down.

“Hey – you guys coming or what?” Nero waved, trying to get your attention.

You followed after him towards the RV. 

You had a flash of a mental image, of a deepening crack in your mind. 

…You walked away, feeling like you were able to finally name the strange churning in your stomach, the rise of nausea and bile in your throat and the sting of your heart that Ko struck you with...

Your Ideal Self was splitting from Cognitive Dissonance*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] – Lord Byron, another Romantic Poet. It’s a mental image I have of V, he just strikes me as someone who really doesn’t like the Byronic prose. No idea where it came from though haha.
> 
> [2] – Cognitive Dissonance, my Google-Fu says it’s a feeling of mental discomfort or psychological stress experienced by someone who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas and values. I kinda went with the interpretation of the mental discomfort when you are confronted with a differing belief that is strong enough to make you question the validity of your own. Because I feel that we are comforted by consistency and we try to keep to behaviors that support and feeds into our beliefs, encountering someone (especially one that you admire as a role model) who tells you one thing but suddenly says the truth is that you really are the opposite, I imagine there is a strong feeling of discomfort from that….of course I am not a psychologist and I probably am grossly mis-using this term. Ignore it, this is fanfiction :3


	9. I am Thou, Thou Art I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sound Track for this Chapter:
> 
> [1] [SMT Nocturne – Fiend Battle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfHZQiFwcBE  
> [2] [Persona 5 Awakening Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTQoFPmC7ZA  
> [3] [Persona 5 Will Power - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA6yWuXFC7o  
> [4] [Persona 5 Blooming Villian - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBy4Ir_Pfng  
> [5] [Persona 4 I’ll Face Myself Another Version- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HPr3SwQdtk  
> [6] [Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP) – Unbreakable Tie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAarVmqJwNw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Times I lose sight, I get lost in the dark  
> But I know I won't lose my final destination  
> Cause I know that you are right there truly believing in me  
> Both moonlight shines  
> And sun shines down on us  
> Two is one and I can't lie no more oh  
> I can't heal  
> If I keep on running away from my own fate  
> Night and day gotta fight on everyday  
> To the place of my final destiny  
> I don't care  
> If it's not what we expected  
> Nothing's gonna stop me  
> (Unbreakable Ties – Persona 2 PSP: Innocent Sin)
> 
> Edited 07.23.19

### I am Thou, Thou Art I

**A quick breather at the van-----**

“You alright there, _____?” Nico prodded, concern obvious in her voice when she took a good look at you. You looked shaken about something, and there was a deep, conflicted distress in the lines of your expression.

You mentally shook yourself back to the present conversation. You had tuned out the conversation as V and Nero brought Nico up to date and began debating strategy before heading towards the final confrontation.

“I’m just thinking, if Mother is using us to harvest all the souls for her…given how difficult the last few battles were…how strong is she now?” You replied smoothly, while that wasn’t quite the main thoughts running through your brain, it was a valid concern you had, given the information V uncovered. That and you didn’t want to openly admit what was really eating at you, not right now. But it appears that your deflection was useless anyways.

“Geez, you’re an open book ____. You’re still rattled from what that demon told you right? Look, I may not have known you for that long but it seemed she was trying to get under your skin by saying anything she could to get a reaction from you. You know yourself, don’t give a fuck on what others will try to tell you.” Nero knew that lesson well enough himself. It was the reason why some people got so offended by his devil may care attitude. He was going to be himself and fuck everyone else.

You blinked and was startled into laughter when his words registered in your brain. “That’s surprising, a punk like you giving real advice?” The tension melted away and you raised your hands to mollify him when he began to sulk and glower at you, “It’s a compliment Nero, I’ll keep that in mind….besides even though that demon wore her face, that wasn’t the friend I knew.” You shrugged, putting on a much more cheerful face that you were actually feeling, “I’ll get over it. Right now though, we should focus on getting to the center on Limbus and finishing this once and for all. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting sick of seeing nothing but demons and ash.”

You smiled as genuinely as you could, even though inside you were still struggling to reconcile yourself back together. The Devil Hunters had already done so much for you; you had noticed when they stopped treating you suspiciously and warmed up to you. And in turn, they grew on you too…you didn’t want to keep wasting their time with your hang-ups. 

_’And they weren’t hang ups.’_ You told yourself vehemently, trying hard to push back the old insecurities she cruelly dug back up. You’re over this already! You’re not the same person you were before, you’re not afraid of being a disappointment because you knew it wasn’t possible to please everyone. Koudelka was wrong about you on that, just like how she was wrong about you being useless still…and she had to have been lying about your recruitment to the Liberators…you **hadn’t** been set up…

 _’Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Pull yourself together!’_ “So, what’s the plan then?” You switched gears, looking at them curiously.

“Still the same, nothing’s changed. We’ll just go in and beat down Mother. So what if she’s stronger now because she used us to harvest those souls? I’m always up for a challenge.”

“How…simple minded of you.” V murmured in exasperation.

You chuckled, “Sometimes the simplest answer is the best one.” Even though you did prefer to have a plan that consisted of a bit more than just making it up on the fly, you could adapt if needed.

“____, you really on board with this crazy plan? Y’all are more alike than I thought…Alright then -” Nico stepped behind her workbench, “I’m cookin’, any special orders?”

 **The Center of Limbus-----**

“Welcome, you’ve kept me waiting for such a long time, hunters from other worlds.” A smooth, seductive voice spoke out as you made it to the top of the mountain.

Reclining regally atop a crowned five headed dragon, was a stunning and voluptuous woman. She held a golden goblet in one perfectly manicured hand and was clad revealingly in red and purple silks. But the face she wore…was a terrifying grinning visage of a skull. “I am the ‘Mother’ of this dimension.”

You recognized the demon, everything that you noticed about her fit neatly into an entry you read previously in the Demonic Compendium, she used to go by the moniker…the Harlot of Babylon.

By your side, Nero grimaced – that WAS Mother? 

Griffon cackled, not hesitating to show his disgust. “Geez that is one ugly broad...Anyone know any good mom jokes?”

V shot him a side glare, “Stay alert. This power, it’s…overwhelming.”

The Harlot laughed, her voice grated on you like bitter honey. “My thanks for exceeding my expectations, hunters…your relentless killing of the demons I’ve sent your way has filled this vessel to the brim. These souls shall transform me into something even greater and more powerful…And I shall crown it all by taking the final soul I need…”

You shuddered when she toasted her cup, to you. “Yours will do quite nicely, little Persona-user.” She grinned chillingly.

“Not a chance in hell,” You retorted, “You probably wouldn’t like the aftertaste anyways.” False bravado, but you wouldn’t give the demon satisfaction in seeing you back down and intimidated.

“Oh? You believe that you will escape your fate? Haha, what a defiant little fool. Have it your way then. Let us drink and enjoy our last moments in this dance to the death!”

Like a well-oiled machine, everyone fell into place on the battle field. Nero taking point, with you and Shadow at his flank, while V directed Griffon from behind the wall you made. Nero had the Overture equipped this time, and started off by blasting out a small shockwave burst at the Beast. You followed up with a volley of ice bullets, pleased when the Beast became encased in ice. Shadow roared as he leapt, shifting immediately into a flurry of spikes that rained down upon the immobilized creature. Griffon fired off quick bursts of lightning magic in rapid succession at one of the heads in hopes of taking it out.

The ice shattered and to everyone’s dismay, the Beast seemed none the worse for wear from the attacks. The Harlot simply gestured and the Beast slammed its forelegs into the ground, creating tremors that toppled everyone to the ground.

“There is no use pitiful hunters, my Beast is too great for you.”

You frowned when Nero unleashed a volley of bullets straight at the demon, only for the heads of the Beast to curl up in front of her protectively. How were you going to take her down if the heads keep getting in the way? 

The Beast roared and shockwaves of demonic energy flared form it, knocking everyone back even further. You dug your gunblade into the ground to keep from being blown back completely.

“I believe it’s time to make this more interesting.” The demon drank deeply from her goblet.

You screamed when you were suddenly pulled towards her. “Gah!” A whorl of demonic energy trapped you at the feet of the Beast, solidifying into crystal and encasing you in a glassy prison. You had a panicked expression on your face as you hammered at the crystal from inside with your fists. This was bad, really bad…you felt a strange, painful tug at your soul the minute the crystal trapped you completely. It was funneling towards the Harlot in a steady stream.

“You know, I really hate it when demons play dirty like that.” Nero raised his sword, getting ready to charge at the crystal.

“Oh ho, you might want to rethink that demon hunter. That might work or…one wrong move and you’ll kill her before I even get a chance to drain her dry.”

“The solution is simple, we will have to bring down the demon to free her.”

“Come at me then foolish hunters. But you better make haste, my power will be completed once I absorb her completely.” She taunted, toasting them.

The Harlot raised her cup mockingly, directing all heads of her dragon to attack V. Griffon quickly grasped V in his talons and deftly moved him out of range. “This is starting to get pretty old V.”

“Griffon, see if you get close to ____ and do what you can to break her out.”

Nero and V shared a glance and began sprinting towards the Beast.

“Pin him to the wall.” V growled darkly, instructing Shadow to lengthen himself into a long spear that rammed itself into the open jaws of one the heads. 

Nero followed up with a combo of a flurry of slashes, interspersed with his gun and with a mighty swing, took off one of the heads. The Beast became enraged and the remaining heads twisted in an attempt to capture the hunter the injured it so. Nero threw himself back and narrowly missed the snapping jaws. He wiped at his jaw and tsk’d, “That the best you can do?” He taunted, righting himself and mockingly waved his gun at the demon. “I’ve seen clowns with better party tricks than that!”

“Ask and ye shall receive, foolish hunter.” The Harlot blew a kiss at Nero.

A strange glittering mist swirled to his face. Nero rubbed furiously at his eyes, wondering exactly why his vision became tinged in pink. He heard a strange whispering in his ears, urging him coyly to attack V…attack V? Unconsciously, Nero raised his gun and fired warning shots by V’s feet.

“What are you doing!?”

You screamed from the confines of the crystal. “There’s something wrong with Nero! Snap him out of it!”

V cursed when he found himself having to split his attention between the Beast and dodging Nero’s attacks. There was a strange, feverish look on the young hunter’s face, his eyes were wild and darting back and forth rapidly as if he couldn’t understand what he was seeing or experiencing. V gracefully continued to sidestep Nero, doing his best to land jarring blows without injuring their powerhouse fighter too much.

“Nero!” You cried, “God dammit pull yourself together! Griffon, do something!” You pleaded.

“Okay, okay – hang on tight toots, I’ll be right back!”

Griffon swept over and discharged a bolt of lightning at Nero. “Come on kiddo – you can pick a fight with Shakespeare later! We got bigger fish to fry!”

“Gah – what the hell!?” Nero staggered back in pain at the sudden shock, hand splayed over his face.

“No time now kid, you’re wasting too much time!”

Nero snarled and sprinted straight towards the Beast, mind cleared from the cloying voices in his head. “I’m going to make you pay for that!” He promised darkly, thrusting the Overture out and letting loose the biggest shockwave it would give. The arm shattered from the energy overload and he quickly twisted on another one and continued in the same vein.

You couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief but you were immensely glad that Nero broke out of his trance. However, there was a tight knot of fear and helplessness that gripped around your heart. You couldn’t do anything stuck like this! Outside, Griffon was doing his best to chip away at the crystal with his magic but you both noticed that it was impervious to his efforts. 

“Griffon, go back to V! The sooner you guys can take her out, the better!”

“Hey you sure kiddo – I don’t want your soul getting eaten on my conscience – “

“Then you better hurry up and take that demon down!”

Griffon hesitated – too long and couldn’t avoid the blast of fire that came his way. The magic overwhelmed him and he curled back into his Stalemate form, needing time to recharge before he could be summoned again. You cried out in horror. 

“No! Griffon!”

The Beast slammed his forelegs on the ground again, rattling everything in sight. The Harlot summoned a rain of fire upon the hunters, cackling gleefully as it was clear the battle was turning in her favor.

“V! Nero!” You screamed yourself hoarse from the confines of the crystal that contained you. You pounded and scratched furiously at the glassy surface, leaving smears of your blood as the jagged edges tore through your skin. “God dammit!” Why were you so useless? _’Come on! There has to be a way out!’_

“What a delicious display of despair…in a few more moments you will become one with me, a fine addition to my power…”

Through your tear-filled vision, you watched as Nero and V were swept off their feet again. They were struggling to get back up but you could see how exhausted they were already. “No…” You slumped to your knees, feeling that desolate, emptiness that came with utter, complete failure. Another attack like that from the Harlot and they were done for.

“My, my, little Persona-user, giving up already? But then, it is no surprise – you, who always relied on others to save you, to lead you…you who are a parasite, leeching off others in a vain attempt to give yourself purpose…you who cannot even awaken your Persona to save your companions…You always gave up so easily whenever it got difficult…”

“Shut up!” You clapped your trembling hands over your ears. 

“Oh, did I strike a nerve? But it’s true, I can read the deeply buried shame written all over your heart… the envy and resentment of those more capable than you….The longing for someone to just tell you what you should do in life…the cowardice in the face of trying to live because it’s too painful…the despair of being responsible for your actions, your selfishness in clinging to toxic relationships because you fear abandonment, **the utter self-loathing because you are so useless when your friends need you most** –“

“Stop it! Stop it, stop it!” You hissed desperately, wanting her to stop. Stop revealing all your flaws to you, stop showing you how pathetic you were…stop taunting you with how powerless you are…The Harlot was reading deep from your fears and insecurities, ripping open the still tender wounds Ko had inflicted. 

“There is no more use in struggling, deep in your heart you desire the Salvation I am offering…” The voice was insidious, ripping through your defenses like paper and leaving you raw and vulnerable. 

“You are a culmination of all that is undesirable in humankind. So selfish and cowardly, powerless to do anything to change the fates of those around you….You will never be able to run from any of that… you cannot save them, they will die like all the others you’ve failed…you cannot even save yourself…But… I can take all your pain and suffering, child….” The Harlot cooed to you. You were almost hers now.

Your mind was splitting from the pain, your body trembling violently now as you felt the last remnants of your soul drain away into the bottomless pit that was the Harlot. You clenched at your head in misery, unsure whether or not if you were crying from the pain or from the mental beating the demon handed to you. You desperately tried to clutch at your beliefs, you knew she was wrong – you worked hard to overcome those weaknesses, you proved that you were over those insecurities…didn’t you?

Your hands dropped to your side in defeat. 

“All you have to do is just surrender,” The demon cooed sweetly, “I healed your friend this way, you know…she was free because she served me…I can grant you the same freedom….no more questioning your existence, I will give you a sense of worth….deep down you desire this….”

No more..?

Could you really accept that? An existence serving a demon, losing your soul and becoming a soulless puppet…?

Her voice continued to whisper to you …The demon was right. You are pitiful…you needed someone to give you meaning to your existence, never able to find it within yourself…You were an imposter…always so alone…flailing helplessly for answers and comfort that will never come…

Your mind struggled to throw off the Harlot’s poisonous words. Wasn’t that why you joined the Liberators, to find that meaning? To do more than just exist and prove that you weren’t so pathetic…? You weren’t a failure, you truly believed in in your justice, of protecting those who were too weak to do so themselves…your mind flickered back to what you told V…that wasn’t a lie, that couldn’t be a lie…

The Harlot shot back, those were only pretty, pretty prepackaged words you learned to regurgitate…you were always eager to please others, just so you could receive scraps of praise to validate yourself, trying to use it to justify that you had some use…But you had no purpose unless you were in the capacity of just a tool. What kind of person are you really? You gave up too easily, you were just another burden to everyone, you had NO power to change anything, the voice insisted in its bitter honeyed tone.

Your eyes strayed to V and Nero. Why were they still fighting? How could they still be standing? 

You doubled over in pain as a sharp headache ripped through your head.

 **They desire to save you, is that not enough? Weak and pitiful as you are, they still wish to save you because of the bonds you built with them. They burn brightly with their resolve – for you!** A much quieter voice spoke to you in the depths of your mind, but the voice sweeter than the Harlot’s could ever be.

_’…For me?’_

**Are you so willing to relinquish yourself for the false promise of a pain-free illusion? Do you truly desire to be at the whims of a cruel demon who will only devour your soul because you are so weak that you cannot even find the strength to try and resist?**

Something about the sight of them fighting so hard to save you wrestled you free from the Harlot’s poisonous whisperings. Here they were, fighting with everything they have while you are on the verge of giving up all hope. What kind of friend were you!?

Again that voice, gentle but so determined…. **Are you so willing to give up so easily again? Have you no faith in them…or yourself to see this through to the end?**

“I don’t want them to die…” There was a strange sensation bursting from your heart. Painful but brilliantly freeing. “I don’t want them to die!!” You pounding at the crystal desperately, “Nero! V! I don’t want you to die, I can’t let you die here because of me!” 

**Then what will you do about it? Make your choice! This will be your only chance!**

“I can’t keep relying on everyone, that’s why I worked so hard to get stronger so I could be the one that can be depended on – I can’t let myself ever forget that, I just needed a kick in the ass to reality!” The crystal began to crack beneath your fingertips. There were blue flames licking up your arms, your eyes began to flash between your natural color and a deep gold. “I’m fed up! I’m not going to just sit back any longer and wait to be saved and I’m not going to just give up hope – Nero! V! Hold on, I’m going to fight back!” 

You stood up and punched at the crystal again with all your fury. The demon was wrong about you! Yes, you had a tendency to sometimes ignore the truth in front of you, especially when it was painful. And yes, you did want acknowledgment, some sort of sign that you were doing the right thing in life, but who didn’t? That didn’t make you needy, not in the sense the Harlot was trying to convince you of. So what if you really weren’t cut out to be a hero, but you’ll be damned if you let people stop you from trying! You weren’t as useless as they were making you out to be – you’ll prove it!

**Call my name!**

“I need you, Persona! Eos!” You cried out with all your might.

The mental image of a stern and statuesque woman flared brightly in your mind’s eye. She was blazing with blue flames, with piercing golden eyes and cloaked in a radiant halo of white silks. Silver runes shifted over body like serpentine tattoos. And she held the dawn in her hands.

**I am thou, thou art I. I have received the wish in your heart, the resolve to write a new beginning for yourself and to change the fates of those you tied yourself to…to protect your bonds, I will lend you my power!**

The prison shattered and you fell in a rain of crystal shards and blue flames. You picked up your fallen gunblade and put yourself between your fallen friends and the Harlot. You threw a smile back over your shoulder at Nero and V, “Sorry to keep you waiting.” You snapped your fingers and a wave of healing energy from your Persona rushed over your friends, rejuvenating them back to full power. 

“Tch, took you long enough.” Nero pulled himself back to his feet, finding that he was able to breathe easier now. “Thought you’d fallen asleep in there.”

“Woohoo, I feel amazing! Hey V, looks like we got ourselves a full party this time. I’m ready for Round 2!” Griffon swept himself up and stretched his wings out, flaring brightly with lightning.

V twirled his cane and brought Shadow back, “Well then, what are we waiting for?”

Everyone rushed back into position again, determined that this will be the final attempt to bring Mother down for good.

“This changes nothing! – I **WILL** have your souls!” The Harlot declared spitefully.

“We need to take out more of the heads! I can feel that she’s lost a lot of power already from losing one!” You pointed out.

“Right – let’s start focusing our attacks on one at a time then – No holding back!” Nero led the party, firing his gun rapidly as he ran.

Like before, you followed suit and unloaded the chamber of ice bullets at the Beast, feeling grim satisfaction when it froze again. You leapt up high and brought your gunblade down. Behind you, V was instructing Griffon and Shadow to combine their attacks together and deliver a lightning charged combo to assist in impaling the immobilized head in the throat.

The Beast staggered as the injured head crumbled into dust, splayed out in pain. The Harlot shrieked in anger and raised her goblet, intent on raining fiery hell upon your heads. Acting quickly, V summoned Nightmare to the fray, calling everyone back to take shelter behind the hulking behemoth.

“Good save V!”

“I will not be defeated like this!” The Harlot made an attempt to trap you into crystal again. The crystal catching one of your legs and started to creep up steadily.

“That’s not going to work again!” Blue flames erupted from your body, melting the crystal away.

“You-how!?” The Harlot was howling in rage, she had never been in this position before, never been in a battle where her victory was no longer certain. She forced the Beast back up again, fueling it with all her anger. “I will grind your bones to dust when I am finished with you!”

“Tch – this is seriously pissing me off.” Nero was revving up his sword again while mentally cycling through what Devil Breakers he had left. Damn, only the one on his arm left.

**We can finish this _____, an all-out attack.**

A charged attack? Inspiration struck you with your Persona’s suggestion. That could work!

You whistled, “Griffon come here!”

“Geez you’re so demanding!” He obliged and landed on your out stretched arm, head tilted to you curiously.

You leaned in and whispered your plan to him from behind your hand. “…think you’re up for it?”

He cackled in delight, “I like the way you think doll-face! Ok gimme all ya got, I can take it!”

“V! Nero! I need you guys to buy us some time!”

“Alright, but don’t take too long ____,” V hopped up to perch on Nightmare’s shoulder.

“Whatever it is you’re doing, make sure that it works!” Nero charged in at the Beast again, creating miniature explosions with each strike of his blade.

You braced yourself and began to pour the energy of your Persona into Griffon. The avian familiar began to rapidly grow in size, the flames of your Persona flickered at his talons and the ends of his wings. “Just a bit more…” You gritted your teeth and continued to pour everything into the demon as quickly as you could.

Nero’s blade flashed rapidly at the head closest to him, taking it out with a mighty swing. Shadow darted between everyone to sink his teeth into one of the flailing necks. V skewered through yet another, bringing the entire beast again to its knees in a daze. 

“I’m ready to go toots – make sure you name this something cool!”

“Ok then, how about this!” You launched Griffon towards the Harlot with everything you had, “Griffon Bolt!”

The familiar, now easily three times larger, pierced through the air like a supercharged lightning bolt – blazing brightly in blue and purple flames as he dove right into the Harlot.

“Noo – it can’t end like this! How could I lose!?” The demon screamed hatefully.

“That’s too bad. Looks like you’re just going to have to deal with it.” Nero sprinted up the beast and swung his blade, taking the Mother’s head off in one clean strike. The demon screamed her rage again before crumbling into ash that was swept away by the wind.

You felt your Persona dispel. The ghostly blue silhouette that was superimposed over you flickered like a dying candle and dimmed, withdrawing back into you. Without the energy of Eos supporting you, you crashed heavily to your hands and knees. Your entire body was trembling with fatigue and you had a splitting headache that drilled painfully from behind your eyes. There were hands lifting you upright, steadying you on your feet.

To everyone’s surprise and discomfort you began to gulp and cry noisily, seemingly out of nowhere. “I-I’m sorry…I just…” 

_’ … having all my flaws dragged out in the open was a painful eye-opener…. I was never a person who felt brave enough to live the way I wanted to, I lived in fear of the consequences of making bad decisions and of disappointing everyone. I had deep insecurities about my ‘worth’ and ‘usefulness’ as a person…and joining the Liberators was my first step in proving to myself that I had some worth…that if I could prove myself worthy somehow…I could keep people from abandoning me as a burden....heh but somehow I feel like I got shot back to square one on that…but … I’m also glad I had to confront everything. If I never met any of you, if I gave in back there…I don’t think I would’ve been able to face myself like that if you weren’t here…. It’s surreal…in that little bit of time I spent with you guys – you all became important to me…seeing you fight so hard in turn made it hard for me to accept defeat, to go down without a fight no longer seemed like an option…Thank you everyone, I know from now on, I’ll have to stand firm on my own two feet against the things that will challenge my resolve…but it’s not so bad…not when I have strong friends to support me and teach me how to….hmm, I wonder…if our meeting was really by chance now, I can’t really believe that anymore…’_

“ **Thank you.** ” You said with the most heartfelt gratitude you could muster, the most beatific smile stretching across your lips. 

From the confines of his vest, V procured a handkerchief for you. He wiped gently at your face, his lips upturned in a smile. “It appears that you have slain more than just one form of demon today…” He noticed the determination in your eyes that replaced the shadows that haunted you. Something changed within you, you were glowing with your newfound resolve.

“Aw geez ____, please stop it with the waterworks, everything’s ok yeah?” Nero looked away in embarrassment, uncomfortable with you crying but understanding the sentiment behind your thanks. Somewhere during the battle, you found yourself…he was proud for you, knowing personally that it’s never easy to do so.

“Come on, I leave you for two minutes and you boys already made ____ cry?” Nico skidded the van to a stop by everyone and leaned out with a grin on her face. “Woo, that was some battle though!” And then with a much softer expression, “Glad ya’ll made it in one piece.”

“Come on, let’s break up this love fest – look!” 

The ash stopped falling. The smell of blood and decay faded. Everyone noticed how the scenery began to waver and contort. 

“So – I guess this is goodbye then?” You asked sadly, but still smiling none the less. You would never, ever forget them, that much you promised. 

“Heh, nah I think we’re gonna hear from each other again. We’re in the same business, we’re bound to run into each other.” 

“If you ever find yourself needing support, do not hesitate to call us.” 

“Don’t worry your pretty little head _____, I still gotta collect on the debt you owe me, so don’t think I’m just going to let you go free just because you’re living in another dimension.” 

You wiped furiously at your eyes, everything was blurring together now. “Ok, I promise to take care of myself. You guys do the same!” 

The grey, ashen world faded away. 

The Devil Hunters blinked at the sudden brightness that engulfed them. And then… 

“…that’s Devil May Cry!” 

“We’re back!” 

The hunters collectively glanced at the run down building crammed on a busy street. The iconic neon sign that sat above was flickering on and off. Everyone began to chatter excitedly as they moved towards the somewhat run down building. You began to follow after them but suddenly stopped when a realization just hit you. You looked at yourself bewildered, and then around at the broken city that was definitely NOT your home. 

Well…looks like you’ll have to postpone the goodbyes. 

“Uh…Guys, I’m still here.” You shook your head and jogged to catch up to them. “I guess I’m not going back anytime soon.” 

“That’ll be 10 bucks Nero, I told you my womanly intuition was on point!” 

“What do you mean I owe you, I never made that bet!” 

“I’m really stuck with you guys.” You echoed your words dryly, in disbelief that your adventures with the Devil Hunters weren’t at an end yet. But you couldn’t hide the grin spreading across your face at the realization that you’ll have more time with them. 

V paused by your side to give you a sidelong smirk, “And is that really so bad?” 

You snorted, “It could be worse I guess. Come on, race you!” 

**Nico’s Analysis ----**

_So, that’s the power of Persona. Believing in yourself and making a promise so strong that you can use it as a lethal weapon to take down people who would try to take away that determination. You’re an amazing girlie _____. I get the feeling you’re gonna need more than that though, someone up there decided that you’re not done yet, no doubt it’s gonna have to do with the shit going down at our place…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! We’ve reached the end of Arc 1, which is really more of an introduction and just getting some things set up so you’ll be equipped for the events in Arc 2, where we’ll move into the DMC 5 storyline proper. 
> 
> I hope I did this chapter justice, I really wanted to capture the feelings that the Persona games always manages to inspire in me, especially when the characters confront themselves before awakening to their Personas. I’ll leave it to you to decide though, exactly what you found in yourself that day. But don’t think this is the end of you growing – you’re not done, not by a long shot! 
> 
> Stay Tuned - Arc 2 will deepen the bonds you started making.
> 
> As always, much thanks for the love and support. It really means a lot!


	10. Welcome back to the Velvet Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minor Editing 07.23.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."  
> (Igor)

### Welcome back to the Velvet Room

Everyone spent the night at Devil May Cry feeling the exhaustion from the insane events of Limbus settling in. You, in particular were looking forward to just being able to stretch out fully and sleep on something that wasn’t either the floor or sleeping upright on the narrow couch approached the building, you found yourself already disappointed.

“Heh,” Nero caught the look on your face, “It’s actually not that bad.”

Not that bad? For a place that looked spacious on the outside, it was rather cramped inside. Stacks of old empty pizza boxes, “gentlemen” magazines, and an eclectic collection of couches and electric guitars cluttered the space. There were stairs that only led up to a locked door which no one could get in without the key. And to top it off the dubiously welcoming (also stuffy) air, the electricity had been cut and there was no running water.

Still, you all made do with what you had. A quiet moment to sleep was starting to become a rare luxury.

Nico, bless her heart, found a rather shady looking take out restaurant just on the edge of the city that was still operational and returned with hot food. And despite the circumstances, everyone let themselves relax and unwind for the night. No shop talk, no worrying about the doom that was counting down over your heads, or even about the accommodations for the night. 

Just a simple meal, with companions that were bonded through hardship and the common goal of kicking demon ass.

It was…nice. You admitted to yourself. When was the last time you had a meal that was this enjoyable? Not the food, it was subpar at best, but the warm atmosphere. You recalled that your own parents had been distant growing up, you were the obligatory child they had to carry the family name and you had turned out to be such a disappointment to them. You didn’t have memories of a family meal, it was always yourself for as long as you could remember. Growing up, you remember having some form of friends, but it was more of a gathering of bodies than anything meaningful. And that really didn’t change, even as an adult. Not even with the Liberators, it was mandatory that everyone prepare their own meals and most of the Liberators chose to just eat in the solitude of their own rooms; the organization didn’t have the funds to hire a catering team or to build a cafeteria, and the Acolytes had a nasty habit of poisoning your food shipments which meant nearly everyone was suspicious about eating in the presence of another person. Sometimes you ate in Ko’s room with her, but it was usually because she had a lesson to go over with you.

Man, your life was rather bland and depressing wasn’t it? Unlike the Devil Hunters who seemed to live every moment as recklessly as they did in battle. You found yourself envying them for that, but then quickly brushed it away. You were here now weren’t you? Who said that you couldn’t be just as reckless too? 

_’But there are always consequences to think of…’_ Your cowardly self reminded. _’Not cowardly, just a healthy caution.’_ You hurriedly amended.

Nico snorted into her cup, “Hey Nero, remember that time when one of the kids found the Sweet Surrender? Haha, I thought you and Kyrie were just going to fall over and die right there!” She cackled gleefully as Nero flushed a bright crimson.

“Shut up – you were the one who just handed it over to them!” Could Nero get any redder?

You were intrigued, as was V, “What is the…Sweet Surrender?” You asked.

You both leaned towards Nico.

Nico grinned, looking mischievous as she batted Nero’s hands away from her mouth. “One of my greatest creations if I say so myself –“

“Nico god dammit, one more word and I’ll –“

“Oh loosen up your jock strap. The Sweet Surrender is a really special Devil Breaker I designed…” The look on her face looked positively wicked now, “…with his honey Kyrie in mind.” She emphasized.

Your mind went blank before…oh…. _OH!_

“You mean – oh my god!” You fell over backwards and began laughing. “Ah, my stomach! Oh my god!”

Poor V was still trying to puzzle out exactly what conclusion you came to that garnered such a strong reaction from you. It looked quite painful from where he was sitting, you were doubled over and rolling back and forth, crying from laughter. Nico took the opportunity to make some gestures to demonstrate the function of the Devil Breaker and had him flushing just as red as Nero.

“Hah! Now ain’t that a surprise! V is more of a prude than ____!”

V coughed, “It’s not quite a topic that comes up in casual conversation Nico. And I AM a gentleman.” He said defensively. He _didn’t consider_ himself a prude but some topics were best kept private. This was something he’d much rather only discuss with a close lover behind closed doors. Without much of the discussion part happening of course.

Poor Nero on the other hand looked miserable and looked like he was contemplating if he could get away with murdering all of you just to have his dignity back. “Just shut up already.” He grumbled, scowling at everyone.

Maybe you were a little intoxicated by the atmosphere, or maybe because you had just told yourself earlier you’d be as reckless as they were. Instead of sobering up and letting Nero take back his tattered pride, you rolled over to Nico and leaned on her heavily for support as you continued to chuckle. “So…what on earth made you think Nero needed a Devil Breaker like _that_?”

“_____!” Nero was mortified. Someone please put him out of his misery.

“Heh, cause Kyrie’s a sweet honey and Nero needs all the help he can get!”

That set you and Nico off again in another howl of laughter. Nero fumed as even V began to chuckle softly behind the cover of his book.

“You guys are asses.”

You spent the rest of the meal in a much cheerier mood. 

But when it was time to sleep, you found yourself outside instead.

You sighed from a mix of boredom and restlessness from your seat on the front steps of the office. Both V and Nero were sleeping soundly (and snoring quite loudly) inside. Nico had retired to her van hours ago, although judging from the bangs coming from the RV, you figured she was busy at work – did that woman ever sleep at all? That left you to your own devices, as long as you stayed close by; given the situation in Red Grave; you were free to do as you pleased.

You leaned back and braced yourself with your hands, so you could tilt your gaze upward further. Your eyes traced the constellations above. The sky was amazingly clear tonight. It had been a year, you thought, since you’ve seen the night sky without the swarm of demons and portals obstructing the stars.

Little things, you should appreciate them more.

Your mind drifted back to the events in Limbus. You really couldn’t believe that all happened…in such a short time too! The whole chain of events felt surreal. You met up with a team of demon hunters from another world, you fought your way across to the demon who orchestrated the events and in the end, managed to force open a rip in the dimension to escape back to the Human world. That experience even pushed you far enough to gain your Persona. All in all, it was the perfect end to that adventure.

Except for a minor issue…. 

You never made it back to your own world.

Surprisingly, it didn’t bother you as much as you thought it would. You theorized if maybe it was the bonds you made with the Devil May Cry hunters that brought you to Red Grave with them, like a hitchhiker of sorts? You couldn’t really say that you had much stronger bonds waiting for you back home because…well you didn’t. The closest you got to a having a friend was Ko and looked how that turned out…. Or maybe, it was just one large freak accident that brought you along for the ride. You wouldn’t be surprised if that was the answer too.

Your mind wandered again, a clear sign of your mental exhaustion since you were currently unable to focus on anything for too long. But you still didn’t feel like sleeping. You wondered if the Liberators were looking for you. Or were they as cold-hearted as Ko implied; did they just write you off as a lost cause the minute you fell into that portal? You couldn’t be sure, everything that seemed so absolute before, you were questioning heavily now.

_’So many useless questions _____. Maybe I should try to get some sleep…’_

Hmm?

You noticed an ethereal, royal blue butterfly fluttering right above you. There it was again! You jumped to your feet and began following after it when it flew away, towards the little alley by the side of the building. You had your gunblade and your Persona, you could take care of yourself if something went wrong.

When you stepped into the alley, the butterfly was waiting patiently by a glowing blue door. You felt an odd sense of déjà vu, and compelled with the strong urge to grasp the curved golden handle. With a soft creak, the door opened easily and you stepped inside.

Inside the ‘room’, sitting in front of you, behind a large ornate desk was a gnarled and bizarre looking old man. His gloved hands were clasped together and he wore the most pleasant smile you’ve ever seen. 

“Welcome to the Velvet Room. We meet again at last, ____.” 

Chimes rang in your head, the fuzzy bits of memories from your dream days ago clicked into focus. That was right! You had been here already! Feeling much more at ease, knowing that you were safe for the time being, you settled yourself into the plush wing-backed chair opposite Igor.

“I’m sure you have many questions ____. But first, allow me to congratulate you. You have performed quite admirably in the events in Limbus. I applaud you for finding your resolve and building the first bonds of friendship under such dire circumstances. Strengthening those bonds will be the key to strengthening your heart, ____. And you will need them to see the next chapter of your journey to the end.”

“Are those bonds the reason why I didn’t get sent back home then?” You asked eagerly, hoping that Igor would be able to provide you with some much needed insight. The host of the Velvet Room seemed to be quite aware of everything that had happened to you thus far.

He tilted his head, quite pleased with your deductions. “Yes, very much so. When you made the decision to tie yourself to your new companions, you also tied yourself to their fates. Your Persona then awakened when you called upon those bonds to help you change the fates of your friends.”

Your mind flashed back to that desperate plea…for them not to die…and the determination that you wouldn’t just sit back and let them. “I…remember…” You said softly. “I wouldn’t have done anything differently, even if it happened again.”

“Such admirable conviction, ____. You will need that and much more for what lies ahead.”

That sounded rather ominous.

Igor swept a hand across the table and you suddenly saw three faintly glimmering Tarot cards appear in front of you. “These cards represent the bonds you’ve formed. The glow they emit shows the strength of each bond. And as your bonds deepen, you will unlock more power from your Social Links. As you can see, growing your heart has its benefits. Of course, right now, your bonds are very faint since they are newly formed.”

You leaned over them, reading them aloud to yourself. Strangely, or perhaps fittingly, the images were of Nero, Nico, and V. “The Chariot (Nero), The Lovers (Nico) and The Hanged Man (V)*.” You glanced back up, “So these cards represent my friends? But I don’t understand how these are linked to my Persona or how they would even give me more abilities…”

“Ah yes, that brings us to the next lesson. You, are now a guest of the Velvet Room. As our guest, you are provided the services this room has to offer. You are already familiar with the concept of Persona – the manifestation of your will to face the hardships of life.” Igor gestured back to the Tarot cards of your friends. “But the guests of the Velvet Room have one more unique aspect to themselves, the ability of the Wild Card. A very useful ability, to be able to adapt and change your ‘masks’ at will in order to better understand the hearts of your Social Links…”

He chuckled at the look on your face, your expression was caught between confusion and boredom from the massive amounts of information he was providing for you. Ah, the qualities of the youth. But all will be made clear in time.

“That may be a bit too much for now. Suffice to say, you have a unique power to change Personas at will if you encounter a situation that requires it. The Velvet Room can facilitate that, we can provide you a means to create new Personas…provided that you meet the requirements of course. And by nurturing your relationships, you will find that your Personas will learn new abilities in the process.” 

Igor motioned to the side and yet another door materialized. A young man, dressed formally in blue and gold appeared through. He had sharp piercing grey eyes and blond hair. The glasses he wore gave him a distinct cerebral air. He made a polite bow to you and set a tea service down on the table. You pinked a little when your stomach growled as the sugary scents of a cream cake wafted over to you. He smiled kindly at you and plated a slice for you.

“My name is Maxwell, I will be happy to serve you Mistress. I am the attendant of your Room. While the Master will assist you with the creation of new Personas, I will be here to provide you with a way to recall past Personas you may have returned back to the Sea of Souls* through the Demonic Compendium*.”

You thought you were starting to piece together everything a little better now. So as a guest of the Velvet Room, you’re also given a way to change your Persona whenever you wanted…that went against everything you were taught from the Liberators though. It was stressed that every Persona user had only **one** Persona because humans only had **one soul**. You wondered what was waiting in the future that Igor had been hinting ominously at this whole time, that you needed to be given such a broken power? _’Broken but incredibly useful.’_

You took a bite of the cake, mind whirring through the implications of being offered the services of the Velvet Room. A way to create new Personas and to recall them back? “So…even though I can change my Personas at will, I am still limited by how many I can carry in my own soul…is that right?”

Igor looked positively delighted, “What an astute young woman. That is correct, but you will find that as you strengthen your heart, the capacity to bear the burdens of your friends will grow as well. This is where deepening the bonds with your friends will also come into play…”

You shook your head a little, the concepts were just a little bit too vague for you to fully grasp right now. “I think I’ll have to re-visit that another time.” 

He nodded, “But of course. Ah before I forget, here.” He handed you a small golden ring that had a single, shimmering blue jewel set into it. “Please do not lose it, it will be your key back to the Velvet Room.”

You slipped it onto your left pinky, it was simple and easily overlooked. You liked that. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome ____. I believe that it would best for you to return back to your friends for the time being. Please do visit again.”

“We will be here waiting Mistress.”

You blinked and found yourself staring at the empty wall of the alleyway. There was a noticeable chill that settled over you, as if you had been standing there for hours….hours? You noticed now that there was a definite lightness to the sky that hadn’t been there before your strange return to the Velvet Room. Walking back to the steps of Devil May Cry, you realized that it was nearly dawn already. Did your visit to the Room really take that much of your time?

You groaned and massaged your temples, feeling as if you tried to shove a whole psychology textbook in your brain. While you thought you understood at least the general concept of what your Persona could be used for and for the need to progress your relationships – the rest of the knowledge that Igor imparted was making your head throb. Maybe it will just be something you’ll understand in time…

You sat back down on the front steps again, and watched the sunrise.

Still as restless as ever.

**That Same Day, Late Evening----**

V and Nero had left some hours earlier to assess the demonic situation in the surrounding area; a quick patrol to see if anything had worsened during their impromptu visit to Limbus. Nico would return in a day or two, having promised to make the drive out to Fortuna to check on Kyrie and to restock her van with more supplies if she could find any.

That didn’t leave you with much to do so you decided to sprawl on one of the couches, flipping intently through the little battered diary Ko had thrown at you after her defeat. 

The oldest date was from roughly one month ago. A frown creased your brows as you read through the first few pages. Her handwriting was atrocious and it made deciphering the pages a more onerous task that necessary. Still you slowly progressed through, trying to find the subtext beneath her words, wondering exactly what she wanted you to understand from all this.

**Page 1** \- _Something has destabilized Limbus. Fiends have begun to appear, speaking constantly of the Apocalypse. I’m not sure why they’re here now, as the world fell into madness already a year ago…_

Fiends? Like the Harlot? You wondered…Fiends were rare, but incredibly powerful. To encounter even just one in your lifetime took an extraordinary amount of bad luck. Which you seemed to have in spades.

**Page 2** \- _I argued with the man who calls himself Erebus…a presumptuous name, and an ill omen for someone supposedly working as the head of the Liberators but that’s beside the point…I cannot continue to recruit those with the potential any longer…I cannot believe that humankind is meant to survive this demonic takeover of the world we once knew._

You frowned at that, come to think of it, you never could recall if anyone had named who the head of the Liberators was…it was…information on a need to know basis and you had foolishly left it at that…You shook you head, realizing now how passive you really were, how you simply took things at face value when you really should be questioning things…You really should look in on correcting that. 

**Page 3** \- _There is a new recruit, ____. She will be the last one to join the Liberators, I will make sure of it. She’s not the same as the others…her potential is different somehow…Erebus…Erebus wanted to test it…I wish I did not agree to it, but the situation has become too dire, and there are not enough Persona users left in the organization….they’re dying too quickly…the stress and expectations put on them, the grueling solo missions they’re forced to undertake…they’re being eaten by their own Shadows…_

You stopped there, when you heard the radio you had turned on for background noise crackle to what seemed to be a news station. That sounded interesting… _’Anything to not think about what that last entry was referring to.’_

“…Red Grave and its surrounding cities have ceased to function as a result of the mysterious tree that apparently attacked the city one month ago….in light of this incident, the government has now –“

The doors opened and you looked up, quickly marking your page and stashing the book out of sight.

“Welcome back.” You greeted. “How’d everything go?”

Nero sighed as he eased himself into one of the other couches, propping his feet onto a stray stack of boxes. “Good news, nothing’s changed. Bad news, nothing’s changed.”

“We should count our blessings Nero, that for the time being, the mad demon king has not made the situation any more dire.” V strode in, with Griffon and Shadow making themselves comfortable with any free space they could find. V leaned over to change the radio station.

Click.

“-They’re demons! I saw it with my own eyes!”

Click.

“…Citizens are advised to remain outside the red zone around Red Grave –“

Click.

“…The time of judgement is upon us, we must pray for deliverance –“

Click.

You blinked, taken aback when you heard soft classical jazz music from the station he finally settled on. He must’ve seen your expression. Giving you only a faint smirk, “Things are…depressing enough as it is outside. There is no reason to bring that in here.”

Griffon cawed in laughter, “Like that’s really going to make a difference. You’ve got the taste of an old man - But to each their own.”

You crossed your arms and grinned. 

“So can you guys give me a rundown of what’s going on with your city? I’ve been listening to a few stations on and off but none of it makes much sense to me. Something about the world ending because of a…uh… _tree_?”

Nero scowled darkly as he recalled the events that resulted in this shitstorm. Two months ago…when that cloaked demon appeared at the orphanage and ripped off his right arm. One month ago when Dante forced him and V to retreat from a failed attack on that demon…

“It began with Urizen…” V started, idly flipping through his book, “To simply put it, a resurrected demon king that decided he needed more power…and found that the quickest way to do so, was to summon a demonic tree…the Qliphoth.”

“Tch, it’s turned into a right pain in the ass too. Especially since we’re down three Hunters because of that bastard. And it’s turned the whole world into a living nightmare.” Unconsciously, his left hand moved to cradle his right shoulder. Sometimes he still felt phantom pains; like right now; which reignited his anger anew for having his arm taken away so violently. 

“You’re down three but picked up one extra badass Hunter, I’d say that should even out your odds.” You quipped, your eyes flashing a shade of gold in amusement.

“Come on ____, could you stop it with the light show?” He pointed to his eyes, “It’s kinda creeping me out.” Nero was grinning however. “You sure you wanna be a temp for Devil May Cry? The pay’s shitty as hell.”

“Heh, well what else am I gonna do here? Unless you can recommend some tourist sites for me to visit. Although, I doubt it would be worth seeing anyways if the demonic tree is going to ruin any photos I might take.” You smoothed the lines of your face as you spoke a little more seriously, “Really though, should you be turning down the extra help? I’m not sure why that dimension rip took me along with you guys, but I’m starting to feel like it’s because I’m meant to help somehow.” You echoed Igor’s words to you, hoping that you could stress how important it was for you to be here for them.

Nero looked uncomfortable, wondering if there was anything he could do or say to convince you to not get involved. Shit, you just went through hell already in that other dimension. And you were just taken from your home for god’s sake! It felt unkind to ask you to help clean up their mess in Red Grave after all that you went through.

“I believe we should accept her help, Nero.” V interjected before Nero could try to change your mind. The patrol had reminded him of their situation. They were running out of time, this was just the calm before the storm and it unsettled him deeply. Right now, it would be foolish to turn down the extra sword, they needed everything they could get to make it down to the Qliphoth…and to Urizen as quickly as possible. “We need to slow the progression of the Qliphoth, and exterminating as many roots as we can on our way to the tree would be in our best interests. Having an extra hand will make that job that much easier.”

Nero couldn’t really argue with that, despite the uneasiness he felt about getting you involved with this. “Tch, fine but only if ____ goes with either one of us. V – since it’s YOUR idea, I’m volunteering you.”

“Very well.”

You shrugged, feeling that strange chime in your head going off in agreement with Nero’s decision. Alright, it seems like this was the path you had to take. “When do we start?”

V examined you searchingly, no doubt weighing the pros and cons of leaving now versus tomorrow. “I think one more night of rest would be beneficial. We can spare it – the time we spent in Limbus seems not to have affected the time here. I have checked the dates of everything I could and for all appearances, we were gone at most a handful of minutes.”

You looked a little puzzled by that but if you were about to say something, it was gone when Nero yawned deeply.

“Okay it’s settled then. We’ll split up and try to do a little tree trimming tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1][Lovers - Ones under the Lovers Arcana tend to be very friendly or popular, socially comfortable, honest, and have a strong sense of personal alignment. They have a clear sense of what they want out of life.]  
> [2][Chariot - A person under the Chariot are usually very extroverted, have a strong sense of will, and are resolute-- striving for an ultimate goal that they desire.]  
> [3][The Hanged Man - Those who fall under the Hanged Man are going through some type of transition, positive or negative, that will ultimately have them reflect on their choices and eventually give them a choice of sorts.]  
> [4][The Sea of Souls is a recurring location in the Persona series, linked to the collective unconscious. It is said that all souls come from the sea, and all souls will return to it when the person it belongs to dies.]  
> [5][Demonic Compendium – a list of all Personas you have acquired. Maxwell cannot summon any Personas that you haven’t seen or created yet.]


	11. The Man Behind the Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 07.23.19  
> I'm starting to learn my lesson from all this editing and re-hauling. I need to stop being so impatient to share lol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Great men are rare, poets are rarer, but the great man who is a poet, transfiguring his greatness, is the rarest of all events   
> (John Drinkwater)

### The Man Behind the Mission

“V – what else can you tell me about the Qliphoth?” You asked, after walking some time in silence beside him. The silence was starting to frazzle you. _’And it has nothing to do with wanting to hear that sexy voice….okay maybe a little…’_

“It’s a tree that grows in the Underworld. Its sole purpose is to collect the blood of humans, and when it has gathered enough…it bears a fruit that is said to give great power to the one that ingests it.”

You wrinkled your nose at the mental image – a fruit made entirely of human blood? Well…that didn’t sound too appetizing. “So that’s why we’re out looking for the roots right now, to stop the fruit from ripening too fast?” 

“Right on the mark doll-face, you’re catching on quick.” Griffon looked at you expectantly from his perch on your shoulder. You rolled your eyes but smoothed his feathers for him as payment for the ‘compliment’. You didn’t think you’ve ever met someone as needy as Griffon was proving to be. Attention-whore.

“Careful ____, you’re spoiling him.” 

“Aww come on V, even you gotta admit there’s nothing like a woman’s touch, eh?” The avian familiar squawked and shrank back at V’s piercing look.

You bit your lip as another awkward silence settled over the group. You wanted to say something, but didn’t know what else you could bring up. While V had his moments in Limbus where he seemed to be opening up to you, being back in his home world seemed to have snapped his some of his defenses back up again. A man on a mission, you thought. Being back home must have placed a sense of urgency back into him. But it wasn’t as if you could blame him for being more serious, after all it reminded you of the situation back home. A lot was riding on the Devil Hunters to stop this madness for the sake of everyone. It would be strange if he didn’t take this seriously.

Still, you felt that perhaps Igor, might have been a little too optimistic about your social skills, thinking that you’d be able to grow your Social Links. He might even be shaking his head right now if he could see you fumbling. Socially inept indeed…

Not for the first time, you were starting to doubt your insistence at helping them. You hoped that you weren’t being an unnecessary burden on them…You sighed - No! You shook your head with a scowl, catching yourself, you really didn’t need to fall back into old habits again. _’Seriously, at some point it’s going to sink in that I actually can be useful…And I told myself I’m not gonna get hung up on this!’_

You passed through a tunnel that was plastered with graffiti. There was a rumbling above you that collapsed the tunnel behind you just as you made it to the other end. Ahead you saw engorged ant-like demons crawling over the corpses of some unfortunate humans, their bodies swelling with blood as they fed from the corpses.

Eww, you grimaced, about to jump in with your gunblade in hand before V stopped you. On your shoulder, Griffon was looking slightly concerned as Shadow growled and lowered himself close to the ground.

“Ooh, genius says ‘be careful’. Yeah no shit, Shirley. Ya’know running away is okay. It’s always okay to run away if you’re not up for it!”

You wondered why Griffon was encouraging for you to run away. They didn’t look that **strong** to you. Was there something you were missing here?

V smirked as he flipped open his book, quoting silkily, “He who desires but act not, breeds pestilence. So it is written,” He snapped the book shut.

Griffon sighed in exasperation, “Okay Shakespeare, just remember this: You and I like to exist. So get rid of those demons quick cause killin’ them ain’t my shtick!” He launched off your shoulder with a cackle, “I got your back, cause dying is whack!”

That…that was just terrible.

Shadow nudged at your leg, pulling your focus back to the battle that already started without you. The look he gave you seemed to commiserate with your incredulity at Griffon’s sudden inspiration for poetry while at the same time reminding you that you had a job to do. “Right, right.” You followed after the large feline and made sure to keep out of everyone’s way as you darted in between the two Empusas that tried to corner you. Your fingers rapidly clicked the trigger of your gunblade, bringing the one on your right down to its knees. Recalling Griffon’s coachings from Limbus, you left it alone for V to finish off and moved on to tackle the next one.

“Alright – it’s my turn now!” Griffon swept overhead and dove at the remaining demon in a flurry of lightning strikes. The air sizzled, and smelled strongly of burning demons.

V was quick, already dispatching the demons as quickly as you brought them down.

“Over already?” You glanced around, shouldering your gunblade as the last demon crumbled to nothingness. “Well, that was easy.”

“Come, this way.” He pointed at something far below you.

His tattoos darkened as he recalled his familiars back to rest within his body. He sprinted off towards a strange cluster of shifting roots. At its base was a pulsating orb of bright red. “Human blood is his source, we must cut off his supply.” _’I cannot allow Urizen to become stronger.’_

The two of you hopped down from ledge to ledge, scaling down broken buildings and debris to reach the roots that grew in that sunken part of the collapsing city. Your descent was slowed by the random spawns of demons that appeared from below or above you, but they were all easily taken care of. 

As you approached the cluster you could see up close, how…fleshy looking the roots were; they were barbed and tipped with a sharp, hollow spike that reminded you of a scorpion’s deadly tail. You were quickly finding that demons in this world were a lot more grotesque looking than you were used to. Like a strange hybrid dreamt from Lovecraft and from the imaginings of a clearly disturbed mind. It creeped you out worse than some of the foreign horror movies you used to binge on.

The roots were brittle though and easily dispatched, despite attacking you ferociously to guard the Blood Clot. 

But…did it really have to explode in a shower of human blood!?

You glowered at V, who looked infuriatingly pristine in comparison to you. You were completely drenched, and – you wrinkled your nose – it **stank** so badly that it had you dry heaving. 

“You’ll have a chance to ah…clean up once we can locate a working phone to call Nico.” He said lightly, eyes still shining in amusement. Clearly despite whatever determination V might have on defeating Urizen, he still found the time to laugh at your expense.

“This is NOT funny.” You growled, catching the quirking of his lips as he tried to turn away to hide it. 

You grimaced, feeling the blood start to dry in the creases of your skin. Uncomfortable was an understatement right now. You really hoped that you’ll come across a phone soon, or even a place with running water – anything to get this muck off! _’Why can’t the demons here just poof into ash like the ones back home?’_

The murderous scowl didn’t subside as you sprinted after him towards the next cluster of roots, following his lead as he led you deeper into the city. You didn’t run into very many demons which led Griffon to crack jokes at your expense about how you made a fantastic demon repellent, being covered in what he called ‘Qliphoth jizz’. 

You were about to threaten the wise-cracking demon but noticed something hurtling towards your way. Grunting, you threw yourself back and nearly slipped into another pool of blood. _’Close call…I’m pretty sure I’ve met my quota by now…’_

A strange, fleshy colored demon emerged from another larger and more dense cluster of Qliphoth roots that hung above you. “Did-did you just dodge me!?” It stuttered in outrage.

Privately, you thought it looked a little like a cross between a wrinkly earthworm and some type of pulsating larvae. Again, what was wrong with the demons in this world?

“Ugh Nidhogg, never liked this guy. Dumber than a box of rocks, let’s not mess with him guys. He can’t even leave the Qliphoth anyways, he’s juuuust a parasite.” Griffon commented in a sing-song voice.

“DID, you insult me?? You-you insulted me!” It roared.

Several teethed appendages erupted from the cluster, swaying menacingly towards the party. “Nobody gets to laugh at me! I’m going to kill you!”

“Not in this lifetime. As the air to a bird, or the sea to a fish, so is **contempt to the contemptible**.” V murmured mockingly.

Griffon pulled V away as Nidhogg dove at him, bladed arms reaching out to skewer the pesky human taunting him. “Uh-oh, I think we made him mad.”

You mentally tsk’d to yourself, it seemed like Nero wasn’t the only one with a bad habit of taunting demons when it was unnecessary. _But damn if I don’t find it a little endearing when V does it.’_ You thought a little exasperated with your wandering thoughts. You were having way too many lately around this particular poet.

V simply smirked and snapped his fingers. The large meteor that heralded Nightmare’s arrival crashed through a wall and unfolded into the hulking familiar who wasted no time in attempting to rip Nidhogg out of the Qliphoth cluster he was attached to. Nidhogg growled and raised himself out of the summon’s reach, grunting something about being ‘too busy’.

_’Here goes.’_ This would be the first time you summoned your Persona since the fight with the Harlot. That hadn’t been a fluke – you could do this!

You raised a hand and splayed your fingers over your face, your eyes glinting a sinister gold. You reached deep to that intangible space within you, the ether that was your Other Self. “Persona!” The Otherworldly presence of Eos filled you, lending to your body a supernatural strength as flickering blue flames circled around you, “Don’t forget about me guys!” The fear in your heart quieted, the hesitation that used to make you shake in battle was pushed away. Eos strengthened your confidence, the pride you took in being a survivor and gave it _teeth_. Teeth to shred the ones who would try to bring you down.

Nidhogg stuttered again, trying to make sense of the strange humans attacking him. He roared again and directed all of the vines to rear back and slam into the ground, trying to skewer these pesky humans and their pets in one blow. He snarled unhappily when they proved too agile and dodged easily. Why won’t they just die already!?

“You-you use demons!? But-but you-human!” Nidhogg seemed mystified by V’s familiars. Since when did demons follow orders from a human?

“If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise.” V leapt high and directed Shadow to sweep into a bladed form to attack Nidhogg directly. He kept Griffon farther back to engage Nidhogg from a safer distance with his magic.

From below, V could see that you were whirling your blade in every direction possible, trying to hack through one of the vines before it impaled you. You were growling in annoyance as it kept slithering past your blows. “Hold still!” You growled at it. V thought you looked rather ghostly, wreathed in blue flames with a piercing golden gaze that _seared_. There was something about that intensity that made him _look_.

Griffon cackled, “Heh even the big kitty here knows he’s got shit for brains, hey don’t bust anything thinking too hard yeah?”

“Grrah – quiet, you-you…bird and cat!” Nidhogg struggled to string his words together as V absorbed the magic from another vine. These humans were getting really annoying now!

Hearing Nidhogg’s fumbling attempts at an insult made you stumble a bit. You sank your gunblade into the ground and used it to give yourself a little extra height as you jumped to avoid one of the vines smashing its way randomly around the battlefield. “Best insult ever…” You snickered.

“Shu-shaddup!”

_’Oops – now I’m the one that made him mad.’_ You blocked a vine by swinging it away with the flat of your blade. You ducked and turned on your heel to narrowly miss being impaled by another vine rushing at you. “…You guys are such a bad influence on me.” You muttered, twisting your arm and finally landing a deep slash into it as it curled back at you. You heard a high pitched squeal as it retreated back. “Hey – come back here!” You cried out, chasing after it.

The longer the battle drew out, the more aggravated Nidhogg seemed to become. By this point, between the four of you (Nightmare had returned back), you managed to take down over half of the writhing vines. This seemed to put the demon into a fury as he began striking faster and more erratically from above. 

You were starting to tire out, spending too much energy rolling and ducking to avoid those nasty looking blades attached to the end of Nidhogg’s arms. He seemed to have decided to target you for this half of the battle – probably still upset about your jibe at his less than stellar insult. 

_Geez, who knew demons are so sensitive?’_

You decided to make an attempt at channeling the power of your persona into augmenting your speed a little – the best defense is sometimes having a better and faster offense right? The world blurred into a mess of colors as you rushed forward, **too fast**! You grunted from the sudden impact and cessation of your movements as your gunblade sank deep into Nidhogg’s torso, effectively disemboweling the stuttering demon as he cried in disbelief before exploding into a spray of demon gore.

“Gross!” Not again!

“…Is…this going to be a habit of yours, ____?” V asked mildly, doing his best to not erupt into laughter. Even Nero wasn’t as terrible as you were in getting so messy from a fight.

Giving into your first impulsive thought, you grabbed fistfuls of the slime left behind by Nidhogg and threw them at V. The look on your face was ferocious, even murderous when V simply sidestepped your clumsy throws. 

“Heads up ____! You might wanna hold your breath for this!” Griffon shouted from behind you.

What—

Something crackled like lightning and then an unexpected pressure of water slammed into your back. You skidded forward a few steps, uselessly trying to push back at the spray before figuring out that you could just simply step out of the stream of water hurtling into you. You doubled over, sputtering as you tried to dislodge the water that got in your ears and lungs. You were completely drenched.

“What the hell was that?” You growled at the avian demon, who was preening himself with an innocent air.

“What – it’s a free shower doll-face! Thought you’d appreciate it.”

V couldn’t help himself any longer, he **laughed**. 

You immediately flushed in embarrassment. That wasn’t fair at all. His voice was rich and warm, like sinking into a hot bath after a cold night. _’Really unfair…this guy is going to give me a heart attack and I’m going to be dumb enough to let it happen.’_

“Eh…? Your face is all red toots…” Griffon hopped closer to you and suddenly grinned slyly. “What’s the matter ____? You getting your first crush on Shakespeare over here?” Ho ho – now this was really juicy! Griffon had suspected for awhile when he noticed how you kept trying to be discreet about staring at V, but getting confirmation on it? “My, my.” He was positively gleeful.

You gathered the tatters of your dignity and turned on your heel, making sure to accidentally kick Griffon as you stalked off moodily. Although the effect was ruined by the puddles you were leaving behind. 

V was still laughing his ass off… 

_’...that bastard. It’s not even that funny anyways…I hope he breaks something.’_ You sulked.

**Evening, a makeshift camp in a parking lot-----**

You were lying flat on your back, hands folded over your stomach and as close to the makeshift campfire as you could get without catching on fire yourself. Thanks to Griffon’s help earlier, the impromptu fire hydrant pressure wash had taken off most of the demon gore and blood you had been splattered with throughout the day. But you’ve spent the past hour or so feeling like a drowned rat. Now you were hoping you’d be able to dry off before you got sick. 

“The sun descending in the west, the evening star does shine; the birds are silent in their nest…and I must seek for mine….” V was murmuring to himself, flipping through his ever present book. V glanced over at you, aware that you were still awake. You had been incredibly prickly after the battle with Nidhogg, even to the point where Griffon didn’t dare crack anymore jokes about you. It made for an uncomfortable journey as the two of you searched for a decent place to camp for the night. 

_’Maybe I should’ve done something…’_ He had seen that Griffon was intent on the fire hydrant but didn’t do anything to stop his familiar as he was too busy trying not to crack a rib. But in all, honesty, he mentally defended to himself, it was a struggle to not react to the hilarity of your situation. You just…had the best comical over reactions to everything. And that was quite a feat considering all the shenanigans Nero and Nico got themselves into. 

He huffed quietly; perhaps an apology would help, he rather liked it better when you weren’t so prickly at him; and was about to call out to you when you finally spoke – 

“V can I ask a question? Do you only read poetry?” 

Your voice was only mildly curious and a little sleepy, and he couldn’t detect any trace of the irritation you had been stewing in all day. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

“No, I am quite a bibliophile with varied tastes. But I do gravitate towards poetry; William Blake in particular grants me a sense of calm and peace of mind. I find that I seem to always be able to find the exact answer I need within his collections.” 

Another one of those warm chuckles that had you feeling that familiar heady flush. Good thing you were close enough that you could blame it on the fire if you needed to. Seriously…was V just doing this on purpose to make you spontaneously combust now?

“William Blake in particular - serves as a tangible memory and a reminder for me…of a happier place, more than a lifetime ago.” 

A connection to happier time…you thought long and hard on that. 

“I think I can understand that…” You said softly, with a pleased hum. 

You were quiet for so long that V thought you had fallen asleep. Until – 

“…My happiest moments are with you guys…Devil Hunters from another world…Heh, what are the odds...” You murmured sleepily, drifting off. “..Easily...the happiest…” You repeated to yourself, forgetting that V was still awake. 

V wondered at the gentle smile playing at your lips as you fell into a deeper sleep. Your expression in repose was one of utter contentment. Your last words echoed in his head as he pondered on what would have lead you to say that. 

You – associated him with…happiness? 

You had only been with them for a handful of days. 

And yet it seemed that it was enough for you to form an attachment to them, strong enough that it was able to give you a form of peace while also serving as your happiest memories. 

He felt a strange pressure in his chest, both wonderful and frightening in its intensity. 

It seemed to only grow when he made an impulsive determination… 

…He would make sure you continued to make happy memories…for as long as you were here. 

Because he would do his best to live up to your declaration that _he_ made you happy…what a novel experience. 

He glanced back to his book again, “…Sleep, sleep, beauty bright…dreaming in the joys of the night…” 

**Much later that night----**

Your peace didn’t last too long. 

You dreamt of yourself. But something was clearly wrong. 

Against the darkness of the sky, your body was a ghostly blue silhouette, wrapped in wildly flickering flames. The smell of blood again filled your senses, but instead of revulsion you felt… 

_Powerful._

_Hungry._

There was something writhing in your clenched hands. 

You looked down and noticed in a strange dichotomy of horror and glee – you were in the midst of ripping apart… _a human._

You screamed. 

No…you roared in triumph. 

The world trembled violently beneath you, quaking in fear at your name… 

“____!” 

V shook your shoulder a little harder, “____!” 

Eyes fluttering open, you found yourself staring at a blur of black. The human in your hands! 

Your racing heart calmed and your vision cleared after a few gulping breaths. 

No…you were just clutching at V for dear life…oh thank god, you weren’t…you hadn’t… 

You shook your head, “I am sorry to have woken you.” You said quietly. 

V nodded taking in your bloodshot eyes darting wildly around. Again, just like before in Limbus, he witnessed your sleep plagued by night terrors. But he knew from firsthand experience, unless you come to terms with the source of your nightmares, you will never fully escape them. 

You gently pushed him away and rubbed at your eyes tiredly. “It’s really cold, I’ll re-kindle the fire. Why don’t you sleep a bit longer? I’ll keep watch for the rest of the night, yeah?” 

The tone in your voice left no room for argument. 

“Very well.”


	12. The Bond of the Hanged Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day I will figure out why new content seems to always appear in my head days after I post a chapter. And then I will figure out how to get it to come up sooner...preferably before I post anything. Egh.  
> Edited 07.24.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met.”  
> (Jim Henson)

### The Bond of the Hanged Man

You tilted your side to side and stared ahead at the half destroyed hotel. V watched as you paced back and forth, for all appearances seeming like you were trying to look for a good angle for the camera in your hand. 

Which actually was the case for your behavior.

“Is the location not to your liking?”

You snapped a picture of a group of ragged looking skeletal, scythe wielding demons milling aimlessly a healthy distance ahead by the hotel fountain. For a cheap disposable camera, the resolution wasn’t too bad. 

“See there Shakespeare? That’s how you win over a girl, chicks dig presents!” Griffon chortled to himself smugly, preening as he watched you mess around from V’s shoulder.

“Maybe I’ll keep trying to find a better shot. At the moment I can’t get anything good with the Qliphoth roots and demons always getting in the way.” You hummed to yourself and tucked the camera securely into a pocket. You wondered if Nico could develop the film for you later?

It had been a touching gesture on Griffon’s part, a way to make up for the fire hydrant incident. He claimed that since you were technically on all counts a tourist, why not take some pictures and have some good memories to look back on? Cheeky devil, you wondered if he somehow overheard your conversation with V last night…which meant you might have to start watching your words whenever the demons were resting within V’s body. But you were positive that the real reason for the gift was that you threatened to no longer humor Griffon in his need to be stroked by you like a spoiled pet.

“Sorry, I’m ready. So Nero should be waiting on the other side of this hotel then?”

“You got it doll-face, he’s on his way over there right now. So we better haul ass if we wanna beat him there.”

“Let’s proceed then.”

The spindly demons – the Caina – were an aggressive bunch. A little bit different than the Empusas in that they tended to attack quickly and together in swarms. But as always you did your best to help Shadow and Griffon take down the demons within an inch of their lives so that V could sweep in with his cane to finish the job. Although once or twice during battle, Griffon did chew you out for nearly smacking him out of the air with your swings.

“Geez, willya learn how to use that thing already!?”

V shook his head, and motioned for you to stay close as he led you deeper into the building. “The hallways will give us a much narrower battlefield – if we can avoid unnecessary battles or draw them to a more open space, please do so.”

Up the stairs past the reception desk you went, and V directed you to keep to the right. According to Griffon, there should be an exit somewhere in the right wing of the hotel that will take you right to the rendezvous point. It was a bit difficult to pick your way through, and at times you had to just resort to chopping down the roots as best as you could to make an opening to the next area. You only had to backtrack once, when you encountered a root that required a Nidhogg hatchling to bypass.

You made a face in disgust as the little larvae squealed in delight before diving deep into the roots to parasitize the blood. “Disgusting and useful – not exactly my favorite combination.”

You continued on through the hallway and stopped when there was no way to continue forward. Another trio of Caina spawned in one of the nearby bedrooms, although with some quick thinking on V’s part, you and Griffon concentrated your attacks together to collapse the ceiling on them. The weight caused the floor to splinter and created an opening to bypass the dead end of roots that blocked your progress.

“Down we go.” V jumped in without a second thought.

You wrinkled your nose from the dust before following suit. You certainly were getting a lot of parkour experience from all this you thought as you leapt down, trying your best to find small outcroppings to land on as you scaled down a bit more cautiously. None of that straight recklessness that Nero and V seemed to favor. You did want to keep your bones intact.

“Come on toots, we’re waiting! Chop chop, we're in a hurry here!”

“If you can’t wait then next time give me a lift.” You grouched, finally touching down.

A mix of Caina and Empusa demons spawned right before you, barricading the demolished wall that led out of the hotel and back to the streets. Behind it, dragging two rusty oversized broadswords; that looked more like meat cleavers than anything else; was a Hell Antenora.

“Just our luck, a berserker demon.” V murmured, “Be _careful_.” He stressed to you, “Leave that demon to me, focus on taking out the smaller demons. And whatever you do, do not engage the Antenora in its berserker state.”

You shifted your grip on the gunblade, thankful that V was going to take charge on that monstrous looking thing. Even with your Persona, you didn’t really have anything melee wise that could possibly take that thing down. Your Persona only had one healing ability and could only augment either your physical strength or speed. If it had anything else up its sleeves, it certainly wasn’t sharing. And you doubted that your Persona was going to humor you by using the Griffon Bolt again.

But there was no more time to lament your lack of useful melee abilities. V sprinted in, Shadow beneath his feet and skimming the summoner past the Caina and Empusa. You followed him into battle and tried to provoke them to you so that V could focus solely on the bigger demon. A few shots to the Caina with your ice bullets slowed them down, leaving you enough time to take out two of the Empusas with a single blow each. You quickly and sloppily parried the scythe from a Caina, the jagged blade catching you against your exposed arm. 

“Ah shit.” You threw yourself back, ducked down to avoid getting your head lopped off and struck back as hard as you could, managing to cut through it cleanly in half.

Ahead, V was channeling the absorbed magic from previous demons into his cane and waiting for an opening to strike. Shadow and Griffon worked in tandem, slowly chiseling away at the demon’s defenses. 

“Gouge them.” He growled darkly.

You blocked a flurry of attacks from the remaining Caina with your blade and swiped at its exposed legs, cutting through its knees completely. It shrieked in fury as you finished it off by decapitating it. Only one more demon left. You snapped your fingers and felt the cooling sensation of healing magic ripple over you. It wasn’t as powerful as the day you first used it – you wondered if that had been a fluke - but at least it was enough to take the sting out of the deeper cuts that was all over your body.

Feeling a little more rejuvenated, you charged at the last of the Empusa and flipped into a somersault down with the blade with all your might. 

You heard a slow clap, “Bravo.”

“Not bad, not bad! Come on doll-face, give us a bow!”

You grinned and bowed with as much flourish as you could give. “Thank you – thank you. You’ve all been a wonderful audience.”

Everyone exited the hotel in good spirits.

Just ahead everyone could hear the sounds of Nero fighting something large. Metal scraping against stone and gunshots rattling through the air guided your way to the raging battle. Your eyes widened – was, was Nero _gleefully juggling_ that behemoth demon with his sword!? _’It’s official, Nero is just a new breed of crazy.’_

V motioned for you to be quiet as you all hid behind the remains of a collapsed wall, “I have a mind for a…theatric entrance. Care to humor me?”

You raised an eyebrow at the playfulness in his tone, “What do you need me to do?” You asked curiously, hearing the battle wind down.

Nero dusted off his hands as the hulking demon that named itself as Goliath toppled belly down. “Heh, the bigger they are, they harder they fall.”

He clicked his gun right between the ugly demon’s eyes. Maybe a face full of bullets would be just the thing to make this demon less ugly? 

There was a tap of metal on stone.

A flare of blue flickering flames dramatically rushed out and created a sort of runway towards Goliath.

“I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe…” V slowly appeared from behind a crumbling wall, leisurely skimming through his book. “-That made my love so high and me…so low.”

Was…Was V _glowing_?

There was a gentle breeze that picturesquely ruffled his hair just so. (via Griffon).

“Little wanderer,” He tucked his book away and strode up to the demon with a victorious smirk. He raised his cane and struck the demon right between the eyes, “Hie thee home!”

“Hold that pose right there!” You cheered, pulling out your camera to snap a picture of V smirking with Nero in the shot looking just confused by your antics. Now that was one you were willing to keep. You started giggling as Griffon landed back on your shoulder, feathers puffed in amusement. 

“Shakespeare really loves his fancy entrances, never met anyone who as flashy as he is.” 

“Geez, you guys sure took your time. I was starting to think that you got eaten.” He glanced over at V, “-Thought I’d uh, have to pick you out of his tummy teeth.”

“My apologies for the delay, I was catching up on some reading.”

Nero rolled his eyes at the book of poetry V held out, “Yeah, looks like a real page turner.”

An engine rumbled, growing closer. Everyone collectively stepped back as Nico hurriedly pulled up, leaving skid marks as she braked to a hard and shuddering stop. She leaned out the window with a slightly harried look, “I know, I know I’m late – shut it! The roads were all clogged.”

You strode up to give her a high five, “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise darling, hey you gonna get that for me? Right there by your foot!”

“This?”

“No that!”

You picked up a glowing horn and handed it to her with a dubious look on your face. You watched incredulously as she… _sniffed it gratuitously_ before exclaiming her excitement at such a find for her experiments.

“Did you just sniff that? Do you know where that’s been?” Nero asked just as disturbed as you were.

“Heh, up your butt?” She quipped.

You and V shared an amused look at their antics before climbing inside the van. 

You couldn’t help but sigh in bliss as you sat down, you really needed a breather. You had been channeling your Persona all day and it was starting to take its toll on you. You hoped that all the experience you had been gaining from fighting today will help you build up that stamina and endurance. There really wasn’t such a thing as time outs in the middle of battle.

“So, you think Dante’s still in there?” Nero asked, looking out at the monstrous tree growing in the distance.

“If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he’s not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now.” V flicked his fingers clean of dust, emphasizing his point.

Nero tsk’d and leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs. “I guess we’ll just keep going, if we find him we’ll save him.”

In the back of the van, Nico was rummaging through something before excitedly stomping out with a new arm for Nero. “Behold my genius!” She dangled it in front him before yanking it back when he tried to grab it. “Ah, ah! Cash first.” She held out her other hand, expectantly.

“All the materials I collected for your little pet projects don’t count for anything?” He scowled.

“My brilliant badass work is worth every dime, you know it!”

He snorted, “Yeah well your quality control sucks ass and you know that.” He retorted.

“Well maybe don’t the demons smack you around so much.”

“Tch, whatever.” Nero turned on his heel, finding it useless to argue any further.

You snickered. “Owned.” You muttered as quietly as you could.

Nico sighed dreamily as she held up the new Devil Breaker up to the light, admiring the way it glinted in the sun. “This is truly a work of art!” She breathed reverently.

Griffon chortled, “Oooh, so you’re an _artist_ now?” He asked mockingly.

Nico snapped out of her trance to glare at the demon familiar menacingly, “Yes I am, you questioning me, little chicken?” She growled.

“Uh, so why is it art Nico?” You asked a little timidly, deciding to save Griffon before Nico did something drastic like…fry him up for dinner.

She grinned over at you, taking a seat next to you. “My grandmother was called the .45 Caliber Virtuoso, she was a legendary gunsmith.” She smiled with pride as she held up the Devil Breaker. “I hope to be like her someday…An artist and a lethal artisan.” She gingerly placed it down next to her to light up another cigarette. “Everything I create is a work of art, whether it’s a gun…or a steel pot to cook birds in!” Nico directed that last comment at Griffon who decided it would be much safer to return back to V’s body.

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence before V got up, sweeping the cigarette smoke away from his face. “I believe I will take a look around the area. I should return back by nightfall.”

“Mind if I sit this one out? I need to rest a bit and recharge.”

V nodded and stepped out. Nero followed suit, saying that he wanted to look for a store to raid for dinner. 

“Be right back – don’t get into any trouble while I’m out!”

“Trouble he says, like he’s one to talk.” Nico got up. “Hey ___, you wanna help me out on a project?”

“Sure, but I don’t know if I’ll be much help.” You followed her, wondering exactly what she would need your help for. A lot of the things that she did as a weaponsmith and an ‘artist’ went beyond your understanding. You marveled at how Nico was able to take unlikely materials and make something out of it and told her so.

“Nah, what I’m doing is just amateur’s work, compared to my grandmother. Ya know, she even made Dante’s guns? I remember a story my uncle told me a long time ago, she got so fed up with Dante always breakin’ her merchandise that she took it as a challenge to build the most durable guns he’s ever gonna own. I’d like to see those one day with my own eyes.”

Your lips twitched, “Is that why you tagged along with Nero?”

Nico flushed and shoved a rather pointed screwdriver right under your nose, “Not a single word on that darling ya hear? Otherwise that jackass will just boot me out the city.”

“Okay, okay.” You smiled nervously, you hoped that she moved that out of your face soon. You didn’t fancy having an impromptu lobotomy from that thing.

“Hey – do you think you can tell me any more about how this all started? V and Nero keep saying things but some of it isn’t clicking all the way for me.” You crossed your fingers in your lap, hoping that you might be able to get more details. You felt like you couldn’t really ask Nero or V, you had the feeling that they were taking this Urizen business rather personally and didn’t want to risk upsetting them. On the other hand, Nico never seemed to show any restraint in boundaries so she seemed like a smarter choice to ask these types of questions.

“Yeah, it started about a month ago. Nero and I were working on the van and I leave him for two minutes and come back to him with his arm ripped clean off by a demon. It was a demon arm by the way, and it had a really powerful sword absorbed into it. And according to V, that demon that took Nero’s arm is the same one who pulled up that demonic tree straight out of the Underworld.”

You slowly digested that information. “Wait, that doesn’t tell me how V is related to all this mess.”

Nico pinched your cheeks, grinning when you glared at her, “You sure are a sharp one – as far I understand it, V was the one who came to hire Dante to bring down that demon. Although how he knows about all this business is out of my hands. All I can say is that he is one mysterious and shifty man. Although, I’d like to get my hands on that cane of his for an experiment or two.”

A frown crossed your face as you tried to reconcile this new information with what you’ve witnessed firsthand. It led you to wonder again, if you could be in over your head. But you trusted Igor’s words, you just hoped you can figure out exactly how you’re supposed to help before it’s too late. _’But still, one demon did all this damage to the entire world? Back home, yeah maybe it was one person that started all that mess, it still took months before it got like this…Just what in the world are they up against…and how am I ever going to help?’_

You spent a bit longer chatting with Nico before getting out to stretch your legs. 

Even with the city in ruins, Red Grave had a kind of charm to it. Maybe you can just wander close by for a good shot? The more you thought about it, the more you liked Griffon’s idea of collecting pictures for yourself to look back on. You feel that it would help a lot when you started missing these guys since eventually you would have to return back to your own world.

Besides…what exactly would you do if you even could stay? You couldn’t impose on them and what would you do for a living? Where would you live? And could you really abandon your own missions back home like that? You ran a hand through your hair and sighed, there was no point in thinking about all that. Once this business was done, you’ll be back home, cased closed. End of discussion.

You noticed that strange blue butterfly again out the corner of your eye as you backtracked closer to the hotel. Your eyes tracked it as it fluttered down to a crater a little ways down from where you were standing. There was something moving there!

Maybe it was a survivor? Whatever it was, you decided to check it out, just in case. If it was a demon, well…fighting it was always an option. Or running away.

You carefully slid down into the crater, but managed to dislodge a chunk of the debris with you as well. At least it made a nice slope for you to climb out of.

“Hey – you okay?” You asked, gingerly stepping closer. It looked human enough – was that a Dx2 band!? You’d recognize that little scrap of fabric anywhere!

“Hey – are you a Liberator?” 

It was a young man with shaggy blue hair, he was on his knees and clutching at his head.

“Whoa, are you hurt? Hold on I can get help –“

“Don-t, stay-away…the voices… _so hungry_ …” He growled.

You felt a prickle of unease chill your spine as you backed up away slowly. This felt so familiar…an all-consuming hunger and darkness… _like your nightmares_. 

The man screamed in terror and pain, clutching at his heart as you watched in horror. His eyes glared yellow while the rest of his body bubbled and twisted. And then his form completely melted in a way that you could only describe it as – imploding in on itself. You were knocked off your feet by the resulting energy backlash. When you were able to get your head back on straight, you looked over and only saw a smudge of black ooze where he once was.

“Wha-what the hell was that?” You whispered to yourself, trembling. You shivered, feeling as if this happening was too much of a coincidence. As if this was generated for your eyes only… A premonition of what was to come.

_’They’re being eaten by their own Shadows…’_ You recalled the last entry you read in the diary. 

What the hell…?

**The Next Morning------**

You did your best to hide your yawns behind your coffee cup. The little bit of rest you got at least restored your abilities to use your Persona again even if left your mental alertness in a questionable state.

And thankfully, you managed to act normal enough through dinner last night.

Although you were deeply disturbed by what you had seen. Maybe at the next chance you had, you should go through more of Ko’s diary. There might be something in there to explain the bizarre phenomena you had seen.

V nudged the carafe at you when you emptied your cup in a single gulp, noticing the dark circles under your eyes. Yet another restless night for you? Just how often did this happen? “We will split up again today, Nero will be after a cluster of roots Griffon spotted in the business district and you and I will be heading towards the bridge.”

You nodded, stifling another yawn. “Where’s the next place we’ll meet up at?” Even a zombie was livelier than you.

“There’s a subway station a bit ahead, goes right to the edge of the shipping yard that’s at the end of town and then we’ll be that much closer to the tree.” Nero clarified for you, strapping as many Devil Breakers he could fit onto his belt. “See you guys there.”

You said your goodbyes to Nico, who mercifully gave you a few packets of instant coffee. In a pinch, you could dump it into the water you were bringing to keep awake. You really needed the caffeine more than ever. Falling asleep during a battle was the last thing you wanted.

As before, you followed V’s lead as he confidently picked his way through the rubble. The bridge had two tracks of rails running through, although it looked a bit unstable. The bridge wobbled and you had to crouch down to keep your balance as a chunk of it collapsed up ahead.

“We’ll have to descend through the station then. And get to the subway from the city streets.” He seemed slightly annoyed at the detour.

There was a group of Caina waiting for you down below. Now that you were more familiar with them, it took less effort to take them down with your combined efforts.

“Where exactly are these demons coming from?” You sighed, trying to flick the gore off your blade.

“Some of the demons are minions, summoned from the Underworld. The rest…are roots themselves, given form to defend the more vulnerable parts of the Qliphoth.”

By luck, you came across several clusters of blood swollen roots and took them all out. In the distance you could see parts of the tree petrify and crumble into dust.

“Hmm…some progress but not enough.”

“V…how much time is left before the fruit ripens?”

He looked grave as he silently measured the growth of the tree. “I cannot imagine we have much more than a week, at most. It has grown so large from the victims of the city.” He trailed off. You thought you might have detected a faint bit of guilt from V as he ruminated on the victims sacrificed for the greed of a demon king. But you couldn’t fathom why, it wasn’t his fault that a demon went ahead and ended the world.

You also found that you rather missed the playful, mischievous side of him that you saw yesterday. You brightened up when you saw a little reading café up ahead – perhaps that would cheer him up?

“Let’s take a break there V. It’s about lunchtime anyways and I’m a bit starved.”

The café was surprisingly still intact. You glanced over at the glass shelves longingly, seeing only the plastic models of pastries. You knew it was a long shot to find real food that was still edible, but you could still hope.

“Is there a genre that you are partial to, ____?” V was perusing through his collection again.

_’Oh just the occasional naughty romance. The smuttier, the better.’_ , you thought to yourself. Aloud though you replied that you didn’t indulge in very many books outside of Jane Austen. 

V chuckled, “An Austenite? How terribly unoriginal.”

“This coming from the man who reads William Blake, a _Romantic_ poet might I remind you. Jane Austen is a Romantic too. Should I have just said Byron instead?” You challenged, smiling as you remembered his dislike of that particular poet.

His lip curled in a mou of distaste. “Then I would have to say that you have much poorer taste that I originally thought.”

“You literary snob. What’s wrong with Byron anyways?”

“Other than the fact that he was a psychopath?” He asked dryly before pinning you with an intense look, “There is nothing meaningful I can glean from his works, no mote of wisdom that gives me peace like Blake. The Byronic prose and its hero are a joke…a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge and yet capable of deep and strong affection.” He scoffed, “It categorizes men in a stereotype that if they are not both surly and affectionate, they are not worthy of love from a woman with ‘sad eyes’. It’s completely bland and unrealistic!”

You blinked at the sudden impassioned lecture from V. _’Wow, that dislike really ran deep didn’t it?’_ You snorted, wait couldn’t V be pretty much a Byronic hero according to that description? Your lips twitched though at the last thing he mentioned, “So…you’re looking for love from a woman with sad eyes?” You teased in a light tone, leaning in closer across the table to him.

V leaned in close as well, sighing in exaggerated disappointment, playing along with you. “Alas, the woman of my dreams must be of a certain kind.” He looked positively mischievous now, “She must be accomplished in that she must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing and all the modern languages...and something in her air and manner of walking -” 

He laced those long elegant fingers together to rest his chin on, “Sad eyes are just simply an extraneous feature. I would prefer a pair of _fine_ eyes myself.” He added with a faint smirk, eyes glinting merrily at you.

You couldn’t help it, you started snickering, recognizing those references to Pride and Prejudice. “Well I want a man in possession of a great fortune but that’s not happening. You’re going to be out of luck trying to find someone that fits in any of that criteria V, you might want to try lowering those standards.”

“Lowering my standards means I might have to settle. No thank you.” 

“Then I guess you’re going to die alone and unloved – what a terrible shame.” You said in mock sympathy.

“And you will no doubt simply find a Mr. Collins to fulfill your requirements for a man in possession of a fortune. A simple man with nothing of substance to drive you insane. I’m sure you’ll be very happy.”

He chuckled as you finally grimaced in distaste. “Ugh, ok maybe I might have to raise my standards a little when you put it that way.”

Griffon had enough of this high brow flirting from the two of you, “Geez, I’m going to lose my lunch here. Go find a room already lovebirds. Ack-“

Griffon flapped away to avoid the book thrown his way, although he couldn’t be sure if it was you or his mercurial summoner who threw it. Geez, no love for all his troubles! From where the familiar was sitting, there were definite sparks between V and ____, he could already tell how happy they were to be in a café with books together. It was the perfect first date! And as V’s official wingman, Griffon was just trying to speed up the process. V definitely needed to start living his life to the fullest. And the familiar knew that better than anyone!

“Hey – I’m just stating the obvious here. You know doll-face is just your type V! It’s cause ____ ‘s got a nice – hey!”

He squawked in surprise as he was recalled back.

“I apologize…I’m not sure what’s gotten into him.”

_Heh, more like you wanna get in her Shakespeare._ Quipped his mouthy familiar inside his head.

There was a rare expression of embarrassment and disturbance that flashed over his face, making you look at him curiously.

A thought struck you, “Can they talk to you while they’re –“ You gestured at the tattoos, “You know.” Another thought struck you, you wondered how far down those tattoos went…. _’Bad ____, but still doesn’t change the fact that I wanna know…’_

He sighed, “Only Griffon if he wishes to make himself heard, the others tend to stay dormant to give me peace.”

You couldn’t help but giggle as your mind conjured up the shenanigans Griffon must have put V through. They all seemed to have a close bond though, you wondered if they must have made their pact a long time ago, for such camaraderie to be at this level of comfortability.

Not for the first time, you found yourself envying the easy bonds the Devil Hunters had. Nero and Nico bickered constantly like siblings but there was a clear familial affection between them. And V trusted his familiars with his life in battles, never once seeming to hesitate in summoning them and in return, they always seemed to respond to his call straight away. You couldn’t remember ever feeling that way towards anyone. Or maybe, you should say, there had been no one that inspired you to feel that way.

V was looking discreetly at the wistful look on your face while you finished your lunch. He was astute enough to read the longing in your expression. After all, how many times had he seen that expression on his own face? For someone to reach out and provide him with a bond that staved off the loneliness of the world?

In that moment, V could feel a stronger sense of a…connection towards you, an empathy for the hardships you endured and still must endure now. An understanding for the loneliness that can accompany the life of a Devil Hunter. A sympathy for one who struggled to make close bonds.

He was….starting to grow strongly attached to you, for the lack of a better description. _’Isn’t it a little strange to be so attached so quickly? But perhaps…’_

Perhaps, because he could commiserate and resonate with you so well already? It was all so strange, heavy yet freeing all at once to find someone that had the potential to understand him better than anyone else ever could. V felt that if he reached out to you, you would reciprocate. Now wasn’t that a terrifyingly happy thought?

“I’m ready to head out you when you are.” 

There was still enough light left in the day to continue to explore. The next area you investigated was a warehouse. 

The entire place was crawling with demons. You and V were crouched behind a shipping container as Shadow melted into the ground to distract the Antenora in your way. Quietly, you slipped through the warehouse this way. Doing your best to keep the fighting to a minimum lest you pull more demons to you than you could handle. 

“We’ll have to use the containers to get up to the second floor to access the rooftop.”

V was looking up, trying to trace a safe path up. 

“Uh…V…V….” You hissed, pulling at his arm insistently. “What the hell is that?”

You were staring at a strange demon that was floating up ahead by the stairs. All eye stalks, twitching tentacles, mottled flesh and dripping blood all over the floor as it aimlessly hovered around. The two of you slowly backed away but your foot accidentally knocked over a can.

“Get up the containers as quickly as you can!”

Griffon flared out but grasped your shoulders to drop you off at the top of the nearest container instead of V. You leaned over to the side, worriedly looking down at him, “Don’t worry about me V – I can get up on my own. Worry about yourself!”

The strange demon turned all his eyestalks at you and squealed, yellow lasers erupting from those eyes right at you. Thinking fast, you launched yourself to the side, and caught hold of one of the beams that wound upwards as part of a structural support pillar. You grunted and tried to shimmy to the other side, where there were more containers. Another demon manifested right above your head, with an appearance like an oversized bat that was perpetually on fire.

“Great – just my luck.”

You took your chances and threw yourself off the beam and missed the containers, landing right within striking range of the demons. Quickly scrambling to your feet, you realized you had no choice but to take out these demons on your own. V was nowhere in sight and you couldn’t hear Griffon anymore. 

“But that’s fine – I can and will take care of myself!” You snarled, eyes flashing gold as you pulled Other Self to the surface. “Persona!”

Blue flames flickered and cast eerie shadows all around you, turning the battleground into a surreal nightmare, complete with demons that must’ve walked out of a Lovecraftian novel. You aimed your gunblade at the Pyro Bat and shot off as many rounds of ice bullets as you could at it. Then without waiting for a reaction, you rushed at the Eye-Stalker and managed to shear off a few eyes. It wailed in pain and fired off lasers again at you, catching you in the leg and shoulder. 

Behind, the bat swooped at you, barely missing you but leaving a trail of searing pain across your back. You twisted your gunblade and decided to dive into the Eye-Stalker recklessly, using the enhanced strength from your Persona to as much advantage as you could. You dodged by rolling right behind it and drove the blade home. The blade sank in with a disgusting squelch, but you fought back the nausea and pushed until it stopped moving. You ripped out the blade and turned around.

Ahead the bat was already swooping in again, diving sharply at you. Your gunblade sailed through the air and sliced it cleanly in half. You snapped your fingers and sighed when the blistering pain on your back began to subside. You doubled over a little to catch your breath before making your way back up to the second floor.

“Are you alright!?” V’s hands were blessedly cool to the touch as he helped pull you up the last distance of containers you had been climbing.

“Where the hell did you go doll-face!?” Griffon pecked at your head in annoyance, although the worry was clear in his voice.

“I – uh…misjudged my jump.” You admitted sheepishly.

You glanced searchingly at them and breathed when you found they were unscathed. At least they didn’t have to pay for your stupid mistake of knocking over a can. You felt guilty that you put them in that situation to begin with and apologized profusely.

“Enough with the pity party toots, you really are an open book ya know that? Let it go.”

“Indeed, I am more concerned for your state of well-being. We heard the commotion but we weren’t able to pass the barriers to reach you. Where are you hurt?”

You batted his searching hands away, feeling embarrassed now that you were aware that he had been holding you this whole time. “I-I’m fine!” Your voice a little higher pitched, “I’ve got Eos to heal me so I’m-I’m good!”

God, why did you always have to get like this? And why the hell was he in your face like that!? Your heart was going to burst out of your chest from the proximity.

V held you still, trying to get you to stop squirming as he leaned in close to your face. It was dark but he swore he could see that you flushing a bright crimson. Feeling the urge to indulge again in the long buried playfulness that you seemed to be bringing out in him, he deliberately leaned in closer.

“You’re embarrassed. Why? Is there perhaps, a bit of truth to Griffon’s words?” He teased lightly, knowing that it would take your mind away from your guilt. It really wasn’t your fault and you didn’t need to self-flagellate over such a minor thing.

“Personal. Boundaries. V.” You said through gritted teeth, not sorry when you elbowed him hard.

Oof.

Griffon snickered, “Geez, you’re so obvious here _____.”

“You guys are asses…” You muttered, climbing up the stairs and retreating as rapidly as you could.

V leaned on his cane and smirked to himself.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun teasing someone.

**That Night, Camping on the Rooftop----**

You lay on the rooftop, framing the night sky with your hands, scanning around for any of the constellations you might recognize. “I wonder if Eos has her own constellation up there…” You wondered aloud to yourself.

“Is Eos the name of your Persona?” Came V’s mild voice. He recalled that sometimes he could catch the silhouette of a ghostly woman superimposed on you while in battle when you called on your Persona. It was almost as if you wore it like armor when you fought; an armor that shrouded you in blue flames and near translucent silver runes; an armor that helped you cast aside your fears so you could be there to protect everyone.

“Hmm…I think it’s just more of a way to call my Other Self to the surface to help me. Like calling for a trusted friend to support you while you fight. Except that she is me, and I am her.”

V’s mind digested this. He recalled that you had not awakened to your powers until the final encounter with the Harlot. “If your Persona was already an integral part of you, why did it not awaken sooner?”

“A Persona is a very personal manifestation of the will of my heart.” You murmured, reciting the words from your training. “When I…back in Limbus, with the Harlot…when I…I had to make a promise that was strong enough to give my Persona its form. It’s why they’re all unique to their users, because I had to find a strong enough resolution for why I’m fighting.”

You thought back to that terrifying moment. The mental lashing you endured until you were so vulnerable and raw that you couldn’t fight back and ignore the parts of yourself you kept secret in shame and fear. Your eyes flicked over shyly to V, recalling that desperate fury, that burning desire to save your friends who were fighting so hard for your life. 

_’I made that promise to protect you…and I needed my Persona to keep that promise…’_

“If it wasn’t for you guys, I never would have been able to awaken to my Persona. You guys gave me a reason to stand fight back, a personal reason. It’s not the same as wanting to protect a city or a human race. I don’t have the capacity to love a stranger. But for you guys, when I decided that you were important to me, when that mattered so much to me that I was willing to sacrifice everything…” You trailed off, suddenly feeling self conscious. That sounded a little too close like a confession.

You coughed and pinked, hoping that V didn’t read too much into it. “Let’s just say, you give me the resolve to keep fighting to get you out safely.” Your face was hot in embarrassment, but it felt freeing…to let V know just how important he was to you…, _’as a friend ‘_ , you added unconvincingly.

V sensed a strong gratitude from you as you spoke of your resolve to be there to protect him because he _meant_ enough to you for you to do that. That little bit of acknowledgment from you thaws the chill that has settled over his soul long ago. V is used to being around others that can rely on themselves, they were capable enough whether or not he was there; it was of no consequence. They hardly needed to depend on him to get things done.

But to be **the** reason for you to wake up and continue fighting?

The feeling makes his heart pound wildly, a lightness bubbling within.


	13. A Bridge of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are new to this story, I hope you are enjoying yourself so far!  
> For those of you who had read up to the end of Arc 2 - you are not imagining it, I did delete a few chapters...because I'm inserting more content and er...restructuring some plot. :3 I am planning on editing like a maniac and getting the rest of Arc 2 back up again for your viewing pleasure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hear a voice that causes me to look up at the sky  
> Looking at each of our futures  
> You hear a voice that causes your heart to take a stand  
> So that you can catch a hold of your dreams  
> (Persona 1 – Voice)

### A Bridge of Hearts

**The Next Day----**

The two of you were forced to take a detour through a factory, having hit a dead end with the path of rooftops you were traversing. The demons that had taken residence inside were easy, providing no more of a challenge than a warm up for the two of you. 

You were also finding that the more battle experience you gained, the easier it was becoming to call on Eos. And, it felt a little silly, but you felt that the more you fought with your Persona…the more you felt like…well like _yourself_. **Your Ideal Self.**

“You’re improved considerably.” V praised, “Although you still need to work on ah, learning how to not make a mess.” He pointed to the gore splattered all over your legs with his cane, lips curled in amusement.

You sighed as you followed him out to the exit, “It’s starting to look like a lost cause V.” 

The two of you traveled a little further in the city. You glanced around, seeing an odd mixture of historic and modern architecture clashing with each other. If you had to describe it, it reminded you of the pictures you’ve seen of Italy on social media – before the Apocalypse. There were pretty detailed sculptures and colorful murals that lined the street, but the overall scenery was a little ruined by the Starbucks and McDonalds situated right smack dab in the middle. Frankly, it was kind of an eyesore to you.

“Ready for a break?” V asked, glancing back at you over his shoulder. You had been awfully quiet for a while. He felt a little guilty, he had been pushing you hard today, and you hadn’t complained once despite the fatigue he knew you must be feeling. You had just barely awoken to your powers, and no doubt the back to back battles of the constantly spawning demons were draining you faster. Working alongside Nero and Dante (now they were just stamina fiends) spoiled him, making him forget that you reached your limits much sooner than those two.

“Uh V – might wanna take a rain check on that. We got company!” Griffon swept out to the side in a flurry, lighting crackling at the edges of his wings.

How terribly annoying of these demons. He cast another worried glance over at you and called for Shadow. Shadow crouched low and snarled before leaping to pounce at the Empusa that appeared, tearing into it with his teeth and claws. Griffon discharged a stream of lighting at the demon to bring it down. 

There was a screech and V whirled around, cursing his luck when the Empusa Queen arrived. 

There was a flare of blue as you summoned your Persona yet again. However V’s concern grew when he noticed immediately how dim the flames were. There was a slightly glazed look over your face as you fought to keep alert. V checked his own reserves of magic and cursed as he found that he was starting to run low as well. Everyone needed to be extremely careful in this battle.

Everyone worked in tandem, dodging the Queen as you all worked to kill off the Empusas as quickly as possible. After so many battles, you all flowed smoothly together. You ducked as Shadow leapt over you to pin the demon down. Then your blade viciously stabbed it before the two of you moved on to the next one. Besides you, Griffon’s lighting magic paralyzed the demon long enough for V to strike hard and fast with his enchanted cane.

But the Queen was proving to be a challenge. 

You were knocked off your feet by one of its long forelimbs. You grunted at the sudden impact and muttered a string of curses when your gunblade skittered out of reach. “Well fuck.” You quickly rolled to the side to avoid being pinned down by the demon. The ground rippled as Shadow skimmed you to a safer distance away from the demon.

“Thanks Shadow.” You gave him a quick pat before diving to grab your fallen weapon. You clicked the trigger but groaned in dismay when you found out the chamber was empty. **Great** \- You were running out of options fast!

You looked around, trying to figure out how to end this battle soon. Griffon had already reverted back to his Stalemate form, having taken too much damage. Shadow was barely hanging to his corporeal form, there was only enough energy left for him to be relegated to pulling his summoner out of harm’s way. 

_’This is dragging out way too long! Come on ____, think!’_ You looked up to see inspiration strike you. “V! If I can restore a bit of your magic with mine, can you and Griffon break off that wall onto the demon?” 

V glanced up at the portion of the building you were pointing at. It would work, if he and Griffon chipped away at it, it would take out the demon in one swift blow. But…

“You’re not going to last much longer.” He protested even though he knew this might be the best chance the two of you will have to get out of this battle in one piece.

“Too late.” You smiled a little cheekily as V realized belatedly that he was now the one wrapped in flickering blue flames. “Just don’t take too long.” You added, jumping back in to engage the Queen by yourself, without your Persona.

V summoned Griffon with ease from the boost of magic you transferred to him. Quickly explaining to the avian familiar your plan, V did his best to hurry to the crumbling wall right above the demon. 

Below, you worked to lure the demon in place. You grunted as you did your best to hold off its barbed legs from shredding you with your gunblade. Your breathing came out in harsh pants, definitely feeling the battle fatigue even more now without your Persona cushioning you. You heard Griffon and V working on dislodging the wall above you.

“Come on ___, just a little longer.” You told yourself, narrowly missing a side swipe of those deadly legs by an unacceptable margin. You swung hard, managing to lop off part of a forelimb. But this enraged the demon, and it struck back at you hard and pierced through your leg.

You dropped heavily to your uninjured side, you hoped V hurried because you really didn’t want to die like this! The Queen reared back, the remaining forelimb twitching menacingly over you.

“NOW!”

There was a great rumble and the ground shook as piles of concrete and broken tile shattered over the demon. Your heart stuttered at the sight of V gracefully free falling down to skewer the demon with his cane. “Thus ends your requiem.”

You heaved a sigh of relief and let yourself fall back to lay on the ground. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and you _hurt_ everywhere. And the splitting headache drilling at your temples from running yourself empty was killing you.

“Hold still, let me bind your leg.”

V was gentle as he could be as he wound the cut strips of a tablecloth around your injured leg. His fingers worked deftly, and you watched mesmerized. 

“If you keep staring, I might just combust.” His lips were quirked again in a faint smile.

You blamed the fatigue for your mouth running before your brain could stop it. “Then stop looking like a goddamn fallen angel here to bring me to my ruin.” Aw shit! _Don’t wax poetic to the poet ___!’_ You groaned a little in mortification, bringing a hand to cover your face in embarrassment.

“My, you’re full of surprises aren’t you?” There was mirth in his eyes as he helped you into a sitting position. Then his voice gentled, “Let’s just rest here for awhile ____.” 

That sounded like a good idea. You slept, curled into his side, too worn out for the nightmares to come.

You felt so warm.

**The Next Day----**

When you woke again, it was a cloudy morning and there was only Shadow by your side. He lazily opened a glowing eye to check on you when you shifted before huffing and resting his head back on his paws. The sound of Shadow’s claws clicking on the pavement teased a memory to your mind. It made you shake your head and snort in amusement at the bizarre dream you had last night – you must have been so tired, dreaming of V tap dancing and conducting an air orchestra to the Flight of the Valkyries.

Speaking of V - “Where’d your summoner go off to?” You murmured, lightly scratching Shadow behind the ear. You chuckled hearing deep rumbles of contentment from him. 

_’No doubt just scouting around. Still…I kinda…miss him a little already…hmm…maybe Ko had a point about the clinginess. I better try to keep that in check.’_ You hummed a little under your breath as you checked your leg, finding that it was already healing nicely. Closing your eyes, you coaxed forward the healing ability granted to you from Eos and concentrated on knitting the jagged flesh together as well as you could. 

“Ah, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” 

Your eyes flicked up to see V and Griffon. “Much better.” You felt silly, but you couldn’t stop the grin that spread across your lips, “Welcome back V.” _Please stop being so sappy ____._ You half-heartedly scolded yourself.

But the soft smile that he gave you was completely worth it. “I’m back.” A warmth tickled him, throwing his mind back to his childhood. Of his mother waiting at the door to welcome him home in a flurry of arms and soft kisses pressed to his forehead after a day of schooling and playing. A fragment of a ‘what if’ floated through his mind in that moment, flitting quickly but leaving a deep impression on him. What would it be like, to be welcomed home by you… _every day._?

_’To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour…’_ But that was precisely the issue with his overactive imagination, his mind supplied him with too many paths and outcomes that he could never take. And sometimes, he saw more than what was there. V mentally packed those thoughts away, there would be time later to dissect these burgeoning thoughts and feelings he was starting to associate with just you.

The two of you shared a meager breakfast of instant coffee and protein bars before setting off again. 

“It looks like it might rain later. We will have to cover as much as ground as we can before it does. Attempting to battle in a downpour is not ideal.” V glanced down to your leg, noting that you had nearly healed it completely. “I apologize but I must ask that you push yourself even harder today.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me, I’ll keep up. Lead the way.”

Just like the past days, V sprinted off, sandaled feet quietly echoing over the pavement. His gaze intent and jaw set in determination. You followed in pursuit, the learning curve from the past days had helped you figure out how to ration out your energy. When it was necessary, you relied on Eos to give you quick bursts of speed when you started to lag behind too far. 

V led you back up to the rooftops again, leaping up ledges and broken debris, and at times holding out his hands to help you up when you struggled. For a rather slender man, he was deceptively strong. 

“Phew…” You puffed and hunched over a little, hands on your knees as you tried to catch your breath. “Are we there yet?” 

“Sorry doll-face, but we ain’t even halfway towards the subway.” Griffon ruffled his feathers and began to preen himself. “Also – might wanna start hunting for a dry place to stay in cause I’m smelling rain heading our way.” He cackled and swirled back into V’s body, timing it just right so that only you and V were left in the downpour as he escaped.

_’And you couldn’t think to warn us earlier.’_ V sniped irritably at the impish demon.

“Fucking hell, I’m going to let Nico cook him for dinner for this.” You grumbled, pushing your hair out your eyes and you tried to blink the water out of your eyes. This rain was freezing! 

V hurriedly scanned the surroundings for any place that would be remotely acceptable lodgings for the night. The two of you were nowhere close to any residences as far as he could see, but perhaps you could find a store still standing to camp in. All in all, the two of you just needed a roof. His sharp eyes spotted the entrance to the stairwell that led into the building below.

“This way,” His hands were chilly as they wrapped around your wrist, dragging you along as you rushed to get out of the rain.

Your teeth chattered a little as your hands wrung out the water out of your hair. What you wouldn’t give for a hot bath right now. Forgetting that V was still there, you hurriedly stripped off your shirt and started to squeeze the water out of it. “Geez, what the hell is with this dimension? Ever since I got here, it’s either been blood, guts or water getting all over me. I’m starting to miss the second hand smoke and ash from back home.” 

Ever the gentleman, V immediately turned his back to you. Although he could feel a warm flush creeping up his neck at the sounds of you undressing and making a vain attempt to dry out your clothes as best as you could. _’Now is NOT the time.’_ He reminded himself, keeping his thoughts from wandering down places it shouldn’t be. _’Really, not the time for this.’_

“Heh, Nico was right about you being a bit of a prude.” You snickered noticing that V was looking anywhere but at you. You may get embarrassed now and then about the feelings V was making you feel, but casual nudity was something you got over months ago. 

After all, it was kinda hard to keep up your modesty when you had to share a cramped shelter with everyone. You learned quickly to just drop the concept of privacy and go with it. 

V turned around with a slight scowl, “I prefer to think of myself as a gentleman, ____.” He firmly kept his eyes above your neck as you shrugged your shirt back on.

Feeling mischievous, you slowly dragged your gaze up and down V; taking in how the leathers clung to him almost indecently. _’Yummy…I’ll definitely regret this though since I’m just causing more issues for myself doing this…’_ Your eyes lingered on his lips before flicking to his stunned gaze impishly. _’…still worth it.’_

“Your loss.” You shrugged, forcing yourself to keep your demeanor playful and casual. Oh you knew this was going to backfire on you but damn it, you really just wanted to let loose a little tonight and just tease him a little. The high stress of the last few days was getting to you and you itched for just _something normal_ ; a moment that wasn’t so serious to take your mind off things, even for a little while.

V swallowed as you smirked and turned to descend the stairs, pulling at the collar of your shirt as you did so, so that he caught a glimpse of more than was respectable. His mind blanked for a moment or two; how bold of you.

He hadn’t been expecting this.

V followed after you, a little torn between wanting to pretend he was unaffected and wanting to see exactly how far you’d take this new game of yours, if he encouraged it a little. 

_’Heh, having a hard decision there V?’_ Griffon placed extra emphasis on the word hard.

“I think we’re in one of those shops that has a loft above it.” The storm had darkened the sky but there was still enough day left that you could clearly see the domestic furnishings of the building you broken into. You tried to flick on the lights with no luck. But you cheered when you found that the water was still running and that there was a decent selection of dry edible goods in the cabinets. “Too bad the stove doesn’t work though.” You clicked the stove a few times just to be sure.

“Do you want the shower first?” You asked as you rummaged through the cabinets, stacking everything on the countertops to peruse later. “It’s probably a good idea since you’re still wet and dripping over there. You don’t want to get sick.”

_’Wet and dripping she says…’_ Griffon snickered as V’s thoughts abruptly went in a direction that was decidedly not gentlemanly. This was too entertaining for the demons, especially since their human summoner always prided himself on his self-control. It was nice for him to finally just indulge in something normal for once.

“…Yes, I will do just that. I’ll do my best to leave some of the hot water for you.”

Was it just you or did he sound a little uncomfortable just now? You shrugged, not putting two and two together. Probably the wet clothes was starting to bother him. Lord knows, you didn’t understand why he wore leather of all things. Good looking or not, it looked uncomfortable to move around in.

“Whoever lived here really loved their M&Ms….” You looked incredulously at the entire bucket that was stuffed to the brim with bags of these candies.

**\----**

It was a relief to warm again, V thought, as he stood beneath the spray of hot water. He sighed deeply as he ran a hand through his hair. It felt nice to be clean too after so many days of camping in the rough.

His thoughts turned to the Qliphoth. There had been little growth since the two of you had split up from Nero to destroy as many roots as possible. He hoped, that it was a sign that his plans was making a significant impact on Urizen’s machinations. A Fruit nourished by human blood was a terrible and monstrous item. He was disgusted by the lengths Urizen went to for power, finding that the sacrifice of so many lives unacceptable. Power to satiate the never-ending greed for power – it sickened him.

A flashback of you, pinned by the Empusa Queen shot through his mind’s eye. He remembered clearly the frisson of fear for your life, and the subsequent relief when he found that you were still alive. 

_’…Without strength…I cannot protect anything…and I cannot condone sacrificing all for strength if there is nothing left to protect…’_

He left the shower and stayed wrapped in a towel. His clothes were far too damp to wriggle back into, and he didn’t fancy trying to sleep in wet leather. V searched for something else to wear to preserve his modesty when he recalled your antics earlier. Perhaps a taste of your own medicine was in order instead?

_’Hmm…now there’s an idea.’_ His mission was important, but equally important was to enjoy these little breaks as they came. He learned very early that he never knew when it would be his last.

To your credit, you were able to get away with just the tips of your ears turning pink when V left the bathroom. Although he felt your eyes tracing his tattoos over and over with more than just simple curiosity. He let you _look_ at your leisure, although he watched you intently with a knowing gaze.

You huffed, catching on that this was his response to your earlier mischief. Definitely, you called it – this was backfiring on you in so many ways. You were no stranger to the physiques of men and women (there some really good-looking individuals you caught in their birthday suits before), but V was in another category of his own…it was unfair to be around someone that was as attractive as he was. Had he been a model in another life? 

_’Looking but no touching…this is torture.’_ After all, you weren’t dead, you were still susceptible to the whims of your hormones. _’The last time I got like this, was over a fictional character…this is sooo much worse because he’s right there and not just in my head!’_ You discreetly tried to breathe deeply through your nose, self-control, self-control. 

You were doomed when V smirked and asked if you wanted to share the bed tonight.

_’…Behave ____.’_ You mentally growled. “Yeah, uh…I already ate so I’m gonna…gonna go shower. See you in a bit.”

The sound of his warm chuckles followed you. 

You lost this round.

**The Next Day ----**

You weren’t sure of how it happened last night, but you woke up to the rather pleasant view of V’s bare chest pressed right into your face. It took an incredible amount of will power to peel yourself away to start getting ready to leave. _’…damn.’_ You thought ruefully, wishing that you could just enjoy the view a little longer. But you had too many setbacks lately and you knew this mission was important to V. So with a little regret, you woke him up and rolled out of bed to get to the bathroom first.

“I’ll be ready to go in like fifteen minutes.”

His eyes were half lidded from sleep, but he nodded and began to sit up. “I’ll get the coffee.” Knowing that you couldn’t function without it.

**The Same Day – Evening -----**

The two of you pushed forward relentlessly across the rooftops in an effort to make up for the lost time. The sun was setting low in the sky when you noticed a familiar sight.

You brightened up when you noticed Nico’s van parked just up ahead, by the side of what you thought might be a shopping mall. Nero was leaning against the RV, waving cheekily as you approached.

“Man, you guys have pretty good timing – dinner’s almost done.” 

“Is that ____ out there?” Nico poked her head from the driver’s seat with a grin, “Darling, I hope you brought me some presents. Deadass here has only been bringing back junk.”

“Hey! Did you just call me junk?” A tall, dark haired woman emerged from the van, shooting Nico an offended glare. She looked around at noticed the two of you. “Hey, are you V and ____?”

You nodded, suddenly feeling apprehensive by the enthusiastic grin that split her face as she barreled over to you.

“Please let go of my face.” You did your best to enunciate clearly as woman pulled at your cheeks, smiling widely.

“Aw, Nico was right. You really are the cutest thing!” What adorable, pinchable cheeks! Okay, Lady could definitely forgive Nico for the junk comment now.

You batted her hands away, rubbing at your sore face. 

“I’m Lady. Nico’s told me all about you.”

“You’re Nico’s friend?” Ow…she pinched even harder than Nico. 

“Pain in the ass is more like it,” Nico helpfully added, looking through the odd trinkets and demon bits you were able to find for her. “Cheapskate too.”

You slipped off quietly to the shower in the RV, letting Lady and Nico bicker amongst themselves. You wondered just what was so fascinating about your face that Nico and now Lady felt the need to rearrange it by pinching and pulling. “Damn that hurt.” You grumbled. These ladies were crazy!

Dinner was comfortable – hot food was something you sorely missed the last few days. 

“Hey so, what are you guys going to do once you guys defeat Urizen?” You asked.

“Eh, go back to our day jobs of kicking demon ass.” Nero stretched his legs out completely, trying to get comfortable from his seat on the ground. “Besides, there’s always a demon trying to mess with the Human World anyways, we’re never gonna be out of business.”

“Nero is right. While important, defeating Urizen is only a small part of our mission. The presence of the Qliphoth is not just confined here, there are roots everywhere that will need exterminating and the Tree will require a journey to the Underworld to cut down.”

You whistled lowly, “No rest for the wicked it seems.” 

“For demon hunters? Yeah that’s about right. Hey, what about you?” Nico had filled Lady in on some of the details of your situation. “Is there even a way for you to go back home?” She asked curiously.

You paused in mid bite. “I guess…if the same concept can apply here as it did with the Harlot. Then defeating Urizen should jet me back home…I think.” You chewed your dinner slowly, thinking hard on that theory. A small pang of sadness hit you, _’I kinda don’t want to go back though…’_

But you felt guilty the moment the thought passed your mind, you still had your own missions waiting back home. No matter how much you would miss these guys, it would be irresponsible for you to abandon your oath. _’Doesn’t mean I still can’t keep making as many memories as I can with these guys…’_

“There’s always the Yamato. I bet that could open up a portal to get you back home.” Nero suggested.

“The what?”

“Oh yeah – you wouldn’t know. The Yamato is a demonic sword, it can be used to cut portals between the Underworld and the Human World. It’s worth a shot to see if it can cut holes to other worlds too.”

“You know ____, if none of that works out. You can always be my personal scavenger. I don’t pay for benefits though and your funeral comes out of your own pocket.”

“…That’s…generous of you Nico.” You deadpanned before breaking out into a good natured grin. You marveled at how well they folded you into their lives. You were grateful, you hoped…that these bonds will never fade away.

The rest of dinner passed by with Nero catching you and V up with his misadventures. And you learned a little more about the three missing Devil Hunters Nero was searching for. Well, two were missing now, since he rescued Lady.

Afterwards, you asked to read with V. 

“Just curious – I don’t know that many poems from William Blake.” You said a little too defensively at his inquisitive look. _’Yeah keep telling yourself that ____.’_ You breathed internally in relief when he smiled and scooted over to make room for you.

“I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity…” V murmured silkily, his rich voice audible enough for only the two of you.

The others peeked from inside the van, watching the two of you with great interest.

“They look pretty cozy over there, don’t they?”

“Geez Nico, what are you talking about? Can’t you just give them some privacy?” And yet Nero was proven as a hypocrite when he couldn’t help but try to read your lips as you conversed.

“So ____’s type is the tall, dark and mysterious guys huh? But hasn’t it only been a few days, maybe a week? You really sure about this Nico, because I think you might want to check what you’ve been smoking.” Lady elbowed Nero so she could get a better look. Oh, you guys looked so intense over that book – just what were you reading over there?

Nero grunted as her elbow shoved into one of his kidneys. “If you protect something over and over again, you’re going to get attached.” He said without thinking, rubbing at his side. “And dammit stop pushing me!”

“Ugh, you’re so unromantic Nero. How did you get Kyrie to marry you again?”

“Cause of the Sweet Surrender.” Nico snickered.

“Shut up! Will you drop that already?” Nero could feel his neck flush hotly in mortification.

From your spot, both you and V felt the sensation of being watched but shrugged it off. You both had over active imaginations, it was probably nothing.

**Much Later that same Night, With Nero----**

Nero sat on top of the RV, legs dangling over the side as he caught his breath, reviewing everything that’s happened in the past few days.

There was still no sign of Dante or Trish anywhere. But he managed to rescue Lady at least. According to Lady’s hazy recollections, Trish had been captured as well, so he would have to keep his eyes peeled for another strange demon that she could have potentially been stashed in. And there was a slim chance that Dante was still alive since he had been jetted out of the Qliphoth by Trish’s quick thinking with the Devil Sword Sparda.

And that lead his thoughts to the remaining members of this ragtag party - V and you.

He had no issues with you, freaky eyes notwithstanding, he sensed that you were just trying to live day by day, trying to find meaning in life. That battle with the Harlot seemed to have woken up something inside you, he noticed you seemed far more prone to smiles and laughter; so much different than the skittish kid he first met, who was chained down by insecurity and endless doubting. You had become a bit more confident in yourself, thanks to the friendships you were cultivating with everyone.

“Heh, she kinda reminds me a little bit of myself as a kid, back at the orphanage.” He pinked a little, remembering those early days and how Kyrie had always been the one to put his doubts to rest. It ignited the protective side of him, to keep you from being hurt.

But V though…could he trust V? 

Not for the first time, Nero tried to pin down exactly what was setting his alarms off whenever V was nearby. V clearly was a human, but there was something unsettling in that hard and brittle gaze. Sometimes Nero thought it was the look of a chess master, trying to decide who to sacrifice for his victory. But other times, it was a look of deep seated guilt, but over what? And V knew far too much but shared far too little until it suited him to fully disclose his thoughts – it grated at him, made him suspicious about his agenda in hiring the Devil Hunters and why he was accompanying them to begin with.

“Tch.” Nero hopped off and slipped back inside to check on everyone. “Just what the hell are you hiding V?”

Whatever V was up to…Nero would also kick his ass if he tried to put you in unnecessary danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do let me know how these changes are going - I'm finding that I like these edits much better. Not bad for someone who's native language isn't English right? Heehee - I'm rather stupidly proud of myself~ Much love and thank you for dropping by!


	14. In Retrospect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I added more context that wasn't in the previous version. I hope it's starting to clear up some things!  
> But let me know if there holes I'm missing. Some stuff may be answered in upcoming chapters or it may not - it depends on how well I can recall all my story threads lol.  
> Edited 07.24.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.  
> (William Blake)

### In Retrospect

**The Next Day – Dawn----**

You sat atop the van, hugging your knees to your chest. The sky slowly lightened in gentle hues of pinks and orange, the sun a golden thumbnail on the horizon. You had slept poorly again, and the magic of something as simple as the sun rising was exactly what you needed to chase away the chill of the nightmares that plagued your sleep. Especially since back home, it had been about a year since you saw anything that remotely resembled the sun, moon and stars. You weren’t going to take those for granted ever again.

 _’Although…ever since I saw what happened to that Liberator…am I sure these are really nightmares?’_ Something was prickling your instincts, the Other chime tugging at you to look **deeper** even though it petrified you to your very soul to start connecting the dots.

You were starting to doubt the lore given to you by the Liberators on Persona-users. The story that was unfolding through Koudelka’s diary documented something much more sinister with the complications of your powers. 

You pulled out the battered diary and flipped to the most recent page you had ear-marked, wanting to confirm again what you had read.

 **Page 8** \- _Persona-users are dangerous. I had to put one of the newly awakened rookies down myself because he couldn’t survive the training and nearly went Berserk. The mental and physical strain we’re forcing these new recruits to endure: sleep deprivation, weapon drills, forcing them to reveal to everyone all their fears, insecurities, strengths, **weaknesses** over and over like a mantra. There is no other way that can give us faster results than to shatter them to pieces and to keep breaking them until we can build them up again. I wish we never had to recruit the ones with the potential, we’re setting them up for failure. No one is meant to break like this and come out strong…our hope for Liberation rests on their brittle souls. But none of them can handle the Cognitive Dissonance for too long. …Except for one. _

_____ is a strange case, all of the trainers agree. She’s too…(there were several scratched out words here, as if Koudelka had a hard time finding the right words). She has fears like everyone else: fear of dying, of being forgotten, of not be able to influence the events happening around her, of being alone and so on. All typical things. But…she’s not breaking in the same way as the others. Her connection to her Ideal Self must be fairly strong, or is it more that she is just that unremarkable that there is very little disparity between how she views herself and how she presents herself to the world? I cannot say…_

_Erebus believes differently. He believes that she is repressing herself too strongly for the conditioning to take hold. Hiding her Shadow so deep in her psyche – she was essentially turning herself into a ticking bomb, liable to fall into a Berserker state that will be terrifying to behold. The more the Shadow is denied, the more it will lash back, he stated gravely. Measures will have to be taken to ensure the safety of the Liberators…_

_…I cannot help but be horrified, I cannot put it down right now what he has planned out. But…I cannot bring myself to fully back his decision, even though my approval is not needed…I think ___ is not repressing herself… I can’t explain it, only that it looks like she’s actually using the conditioning to rebuild herself into something better, **stronger**. But…what IF Erebus is correct? I will have to carefully watch…we cannot afford to have a Persona-user going Berserk…the damage would be catastrophic…_

Your hands shook a little as you recalled your own conditioning. You were taught that Personas were forged by breaking through the limits of the human mind and body until you reached the moments when you were so shattered beyond comprehension that you finally saw your true self. And when you accepted all of yourself, it was then you could begin to build the armor that would help you grow into your fullest potential. Strong and filled with resolve on the path you chose for yourself; your Persona would be there to give you the strength to stick to it. Only…it sounded as if, the Liberators were more interested in making functional but psychologically broken _weapons_. 

“Can I really believe all this…?” You asked yourself quietly. The information was there, but you could not begin to understand what to do with it, or how to begin to process it. As much as it pained you, you had to keep reading to the end. And determine who was correct in their assessment of you.

You heard movement from below and sighed. “Okay, enough deep thinking for today ____. I can deal with this shit when I get back home. Right now, this mission for the hunters is more important.” You nodded firmly to yourself, you’ll have time to confront Erebus and the Liberators later. There was no time to bother your friends with something like this, since it concerned only you.

“Hey early bird – ya hungry?” Nico called up to you.

“I’ll be right there! Leave me some bacon this time!” 

“Sure I’ll save you some…NOT!”

You rolled your eyes and hopped down. You won’t let this hold you back, everything the diary was revealing to you little by little, it still didn’t change anything. You would use your powers to protect your friends.

**With You and V, Splitting up with Nero Again----**

The day was uneventful. Filled with the routine that you were starting to grow accustomed to. Which consisted of taking out as many roots as you could find and taking your path back up to the rooftops again. The two of you had made good time travelling in this fashion. You would reach the subway by afternoon/early evening at the latest, and judging from what Griffon could tell, you were making faster progress than Nero.

It was perhaps late morning when the two of you were able to secure a bar to rest in for a few hours. 

You browsed through the selection of alcohol that managed to stay intact. “At least the alcohol is still decent.”

“Don’t drink on an empty stomach ____. I assure you that I will not be held responsible if you become ill from intoxication.”

“Duly noted.” You rolled your eyes and you uncapped one of the whiskies to sniff at it experimentally. This bottle seemed promising…You took a few quick gulps and shuddered as your body warmed from the alcohol you ingested. It was a trick you had learned a year ago, to stave off the chills. Something to warm the blood so you didn’t get sick from the cold. Sometimes though, you would find the cheapest and nastiest alcohol to drink – the nausea from a poor quality brew was usually enough to make you forget your empty stomach on the days you couldn’t find food.

You headed off towards the bathrooms, feeling the need to try and clean up the best you can. While not as bad as yesterday, you still managed to get demon gore splattered all over yourself again. You sighed, you really weren’t the cleanest fighter were you?

With liberal use of soap and the taps, you managed to clean up relatively well. There was even enough to hand wash your clothes. You hummed and chuckled in turns, this really took you back to your early days of living out on the streets, when the demonic madness started a year ago. 

“Except the company is a helluva lot better this time around.” You smirked, thinking of V specifically.

You wrung out your clothes as best as you could and dressed again, about to leave when the Otherworldly chime rang in your head. Off to the side, the wall glowed a bright blue as the door to the Velvet Room materialized.

No brainer, you walked through, the small ring on your pinky flashing briefly as you stepped over the threshold.

“Welcome back to the Velvet Room, _____.”

You settled yourself into your seat, wondering what new information Igor was going to impart today. His arm swept over the table and the Tarot Cards of your friends shimmered into view. You noticed immediately that the Hanged Man was brighter than the other two.

“Your bonds are progressing quite nicely. As a reward, I have a new service to offer to you.”

“Oh? What is it?” That got your attention, you hoped it would be something that could make you more useful in battle. It seemed like the closer you got to the Qliphoth tree, the more dangerous the demons have become. You didn’t want to be a liability and get left behind.

“You have been collecting this world’s currency, yes? The red demon orbs?” He gestured over the table and the cards disappeared except for the Hanged Man. “I can take the residual demonic energy contained in those orbs and channel it into a new Persona for you. The Persona you can receive will depend on the strength of the bonds you have been nurturing. In this case, the Hanged Man has a Persona to offer to you. What do you say?”

You grinned and pulled out the small pouch of red orbs you had been saving. V had mentioned earlier that Nico will sometimes take them as payment for her equipment upgrades, but a new Persona definitely topped that! “Deal.”

He chuckled at your eagerness. “Very well then, let us begin.”

Another series of gestures and you watched curiously at the Tarot card absorbed the entire bagful of demon orbs. The card glowed brightly and a small, swirling ball of bright purple manifested above the card. At his encouragement, you reached over to grasp it in your hands and pressed it over your heart; gasping in delight when you felt it merge with you. 

A strong sensation of being watched over filled your being.

**I am Inugami. I will guard your life with everything I am.**

The feeling receded but you couldn’t help but wonder at the sensation just now when you first took on the Persona. It reminded you of V somehow. It was...comforting.

“Thank you.”

“It is always a pleasure ____. Continue to deepen your bonds and discover new power. I look forward to our next meeting.”

You blinked and found yourself back in the bathroom.

There was a knocking on the door.

“_____? Please answer me, are you alright?”

V knocked one more time and wondered if maybe he should just muster the courage to step in. But his sense of propriety continued to stall him…it was the _ladies_ bathroom. And he didn’t want to find out what would happen if he walked in on you without your permission.

But you had been in there a very long time.

Maybe one more knock…?

The door swung open and there you were, grinning sheepishly at him. “Sorry, I was waiting on my clothes to dry.” 

Oh thank goodness V didn’t barge in.

_Heh, you missed your chance there buddy-_

_Be silent Griffon._

_I’m only helping you out here V, it’s not like you’re doing a good job at hiding what you’re reeallly thinking in here. Ya know, you might as well just go for it – all the signals are there V!_

V coughed lightly and swallowed thickly. You looked at him strangely as he stiffly moved to sit at a table. “I managed to find something edible from the back, it’s not much however.”

“Hey, eating cold soup from a can is actually pretty nice considering the circumstances.” You seated yourself across from him, quirking your lips at his skeptical expression. “No seriously, have you had dehydrated food without water? Now I learned not to be picky but even I can’t eat that crap.”

“Is the situation so dire back in your world?” V was starting to connect some of the bits of information you had been dropping. He was coming up with a sense that you were rather an adaptable survivor. But was that admirable or just foolish to accept things as they come? He felt that sometimes you could be abusing your adaptability and became too passively accepting of things.

You nodded, sipping directly from the can. The soup left a tinny aftertaste in your mouth that needed several gulps of water to wash down. “I learned in my first week out on the streets that I couldn’t keep passing up anything edible if I wanted to keep up my strength to get out safely.”

You folded your arms over the table and hunched over to rest your chin on top of your crossed arms. Your eyes were looking up into V’s face thoughtfully as you narrated your first moments in the Apocalypse for him. 

**One Year Ago-----**

You did your best to keep from breathing too deeply through your mouth, hands covering your face as best as you could. It was absolutely disgusting; that you even had to resort to hopping into a dumpster to get even a moment’s of rest in relative safety. Outside you could hear the faint screams of the people – was it anyone you knew? – being eaten alive and ripped apart by demons.

Demons…

Shit…there were really demons.

Your body trembled as a particularly blood curdling scream ripped through the air. You sniffled a little, crying silently in fear and revulsion at the madness that descended on the world you once knew. You desperately wished you could go to sleep and wake up and find that it had all been a nightmare, a byproduct of watching too many horror movies or something. Hell, you wished you were still barricaded in your apartment!

But – but something kept nagging at you to leave. To stop trying to pretend that everything was fine when it wasn’t. It had been a good thing you did since someone had set the building on fire the night you snuck out. Ever since then, you always heeded the strange Otherworldly chime that rattled your brain. It was incredibly annoying but it saved your ass so many times that you just took it as part of the package. You had wondered, was this the survival instinct that everyone always talked about?

You squeezed your eyes tightly and tried to sleep. Even just half an hour. You were so tired. So hungry and cold.

When you woke up again, you were surprised to find that you had managed to sleep through the night. It was a little after dawn according to your watch but the same ominous red and green swirls in the sky never changed…not since the day the portals opened. 

Quietly hopping out of the ‘roach motel’ you booked for the night, you tried your best to shake out the smell of old wet cardboard from yourself and sighed when you realized it was going to be a hopeless cause. You were going to steal some new clothes the next time you got a chance. 

Today, you hoped you could find your way to one of those Liberators a passing stranger had mentioned. He had been in a hurry, trying to inform as many people as he could that there was a small group of armed people that were looking for survivors. Word has it that, they had a safe house and could protect you from the demons.

An armband with the name ‘Dx2’. 

You had to keep your eyes peeled for that.

Two more nights passed in this manner as you kept searching and pilfering what you could get your hands on. Although you threw up more than you were able to keep down. Your stomach gurgled painfully each night, throat coated in salt and bile from the subpar food you scrounged. Granted your diet hadn’t been the best because you lived alone but this was a new type of misery that made you long for just something hot and that didn’t taste faintly of spoilage. 

You wondered morbidly how long you could keep this up.

You had noticed that as the days went by, some of the human survivors snapped and just threw themselves at a demon, doing anything they could to end their misery.

You hoped you didn’t have to become that desperate to escape. You wanted to live still!

Then finally, that chime went off strongly in your head, making you wince and fall to your knees from the throbbing it left behind your eyes when it receded. 

“Hey kid – you alive?” Large warm hands – it felt so comforting, human contact! – grasped at your shoulders. You smelt the faint scent of old clothes and sweat as you were unceremoniously picked up and carried like a small child.

“Go ahead and let it all out kid. I’m a Dx2, you’re safe now.”

You saw the armband and cried the whole way to the safe house.

When you became aware of yourself again, you noticed that you were curled up in a cot in a roomful of possibly eight humans total. All of them within your age range. Everyone look haggard and exhausted, drawn into themselves so completely that they seemed catatonic.

Your hands scrubbed hard at your face, you ached everywhere. 

Footsteps slowly, clearly, approached you. You looked up and saw a man with tousled brown hair smiling kindly down at you, holding out a bottle of water to you.

“Thanks.” You winced as your voice cracked.

“Glad to see you got some rest.”

He made a motion to ask to sit next to you, you sat up and scooted over. “You’re pretty damned lucky kid, I was actually just doing my final sweep before we left your town for good. I don’t know how we missed you the first few times. I found the rest of these guys pretty early on.”

You glanced around again, none of them seemed particularly interested in your conversation. And you didn’t recognize anyone anyways so you didn’t feel much of an interest in them either. “I got pretty good at hiding.”

He looked at you, you were rail thin. He wondered if perhaps you had been a street kid already, and that was how you managed to survive a full week on your own without being caught or eaten. Either way, he was pretty impressed with how calmly you were taking this. And if he had to be honest, it was actually nice to have someone talk back! The others were so far gone mentally in shock that other than following his instructions to eat and sleep, they were more or less just zombies that cried and screamed in the night from the nightmares.

“Hey um…what happened to us?” You asked, your gaze a little vague and vacant.

“The world ended kid.” He said softly. “A man who called himself God decided that the human race was overdue for a judgement. No one believed him when he said that he will rain hell on us.”

“Until it really happened…” You finished, hands crushing the empty water bottle.

“Yeah. Until it really happened.” He echoed.

**End Flashback----**

“I never knew his name. Never saw him again to thank him for getting me out of there safely. I guess, it was one of those events where someone makes a big impact on you without ever knowing it.” You paused, “And the world just got progressively worse and worse. You know, I haven’t seen the sun in so long until I came here? My world looks a lot more like Limbus with every passing day. Everyone is fighting for what resources are left, and everyone finds it hard to find a reason to be grateful to still be alive in a hellhole.” You gestured outside, “This place – it’s like paradise to me.”

You sighed and looked up through your lashes to peer at V, “Quid pro quo V. Now you gotta give me something for my story.” You shared a chuckle with him.

“I stand by my assessment of you – you are a shrewd woman. Alright then, what do you wish for as payment?”

You hummed a bit, trying to decide. “How did you get caught up in mess V? I thought you were all part of the same team until Nico told me that you were the one who hired the Devil Hunters for this.” This question had been burning in the back of your mind, ever since you sensed the deep personal anger V seemed to feel directed towards Urizen. What was V’s connection to that demon? But you could be patient, you hoped that by revealing bits of yourself, it would encourage V to open up too. It would do him no good to let that type of anger fester and eat at him internally.

V felt that you were too astute for your own good sometimes.

“Hmm…there was an incident just a little over a month ago. One that I unfortunately played a large part in, and that resulted in the situation that you see currently - The resurrection of Urizen and his mad quest for more power.”

There was a strange sort of smile on his face, it made his expression look both brittle and grim. You felt a stirring at the bond from your newly acquired Persona and in a flash somehow understood that he was feeling a deep, deeply hidden guilt and rage. 

“So you joined up as a way to seek redemption for your…part in this?...That’s really admirable V, not a lot of people would hold themselves accountable in that type of situation.” A pause, “You know, I’ll support you fully in this, right? You’re not alone in this.” You felt a strange sense of approval from the Inugami Persona, had those been the right words to say to him?

V’s expression softened a little at your words, the hard lines easing just a little. “I am glad, that there are hunters like Nero and yourself so willing to indulge me and assist me in my quest to correct this madness. Especially you, ____, when you have nothing to gain from this. I’m afraid I cannot offer you much in terms of a reward, but if you will have it, I will watch over you as well.”

You could _feel_ a warmth from V that was directed towards you at those words. It was bizarre how sure you were, but deep inside you knew that you weren’t imagining these feelings. V had come to depend on you, in the same way that he depends on his familiars. You sensed that you had become someone that he could rely on to support him and not judge him too hastily. 

You felt his resolve to be just as reliable for you in return. 

Someone to shoulder each other’s burdens.

It warmed you, embarrassingly so. You felt that if you weren’t careful, you might end up developing deeper feelings for the man than you ought to. This was something you really shouldn’t be so impulsive about your logic reminded you, playing fire with another person’s heart. At the end of the day, it would be a temporary bliss. You really didn’t want to inflict pain on someone who’s become so important to you already.

_’But I get the feeling it might be too late already anyways.’_

You suddenly yawned, cracking your jaw in the process. “Ow…I must really be more beat than I thought…” You felt like you were going to fall over and snore any minute now.

He chuckled and directed you to the farthest corner of the bar. “I took the liberty of removing as many of the cushions from the booths as I could to compile a makeshift bed. If you are tired, I suggest you sleep first. I will wake you in an hour or two if that is acceptable.”

You nodded and smile gratefully as you settled in for a bit of sleep. “Yeah, please do. We still gotta beat Nero to the subway after all.”

As you drifted off to sleep, there was another strange surge of emotions that echoed in your heart. A cool, calculating decision that held a faint tinge of guilt. But you fell deeply asleep before you could pin your finger on it. It was probably your imagination. There was no way that V had done something to you to be guilty over, not after everything that you’ve shared already.

V waited a few moments, until he was quite sure that the knockout powder took full effect on you. You desperately needed the sleep.

And V…wanted sorely to peruse that little diary you brought along.

_That’s pretty cold V, all this because you’re just curious? Heh, you never did like to leave a puzzle out without finishing it...Never could recall a time where you just left things alone either…hey uh, you sure you should be doing this?_

He brushed away the faint disapproval from his familiar and gingerly fished the book out of your pocket. 

V never forgot that devastating emotional blow that your former mentor dealt you back in Limbus, a lifetime ago it seemed. Something about the truth that will break you. Settling himself by you, he thumbed through the inked pages, noting the creases you made to track your place and that several pages were missing.

V skimmed through, the first half of the diary more or less corroborated your personal experiences. A human seeking power through demons, a tale as old as time as far as he was concerned. One that generated his contempt. What good was more power when you are too deep in the throes of madness and greed that there was nothing sacred to you anymore?

As he read on, he learned more and more about you through the lens of your former friend. Most of the time the entries about you were perfunctory, analytical about your battle abilities and learning curve. But now and then there was a glimmer of concern for you, that this life you were recruited into, was the wrong one. Oddly enough, it was you that had her questioning the motives of the Liberators. One page detailed how Koudelka felt trapped in her duties and consequently was unable to save you from your fate.

He learned more about your Persona abilities, and read the subtext of the machinations that surrounded you. V’s mind snapped all the connections together, picking up that somehow the so-called leader of the Liberators was wary of you. 

And then, a final page at the end of the diary caught his eye. It froze him completely in disbelief as he skimmed through it. 

_’Executed?’_

He ripped out the page in a fit of anger, crushing it in his fist.

_**’They’ve already planned her execution?’** _

He had just promised to watch over you – but how was he supposed to do that if, if you were already doomed by an organization that clearly sought to exploit and discard you? Everything up til now, it was meaningless if there was to be no happy ending for you.

V couldn’t let that happen to you. For all the strength you had, all the resolve and determination that steeled your spine to face the next day, you still possessed such a fragile heart. And V…he felt a sense of deep seated pain when he realized that you would never be able to recover from that truth. You would break, he was sure of it. And…it unsettled him so strongly that he was willing to shield you from that truth, even if it meant resorting this deception.

_Geez, who knew doll-face was just on borrowed time then? And you here Shakespeare, you love tragic stories dontcha? Especially since you’ve got your own in the works._

V placed a hand over his eyes, a self-deprecating smile on his lips, finding a morbid amusement at the irony. “What a pair we make, you and I – born to Endless Night it seems. A pact to guard each other whilst trying to hold off our fate as long as we are able.” You weren’t the only one with a fast approaching expiration date…

He sighed, he had felt it was too good to be true. A kindred spirit to commiserate with him – but that was not meant to be. Such seemed to be the story of his life. V felt bitterness resonate deep in his soul, always cheated and given so little. Was it his fate to have the things he desperately wanted taken away from him?

V glanced at your sleeping face, tracing the dark circles under your eyes and the clear exhaustion that seem permanent in your face. A survivor’s visage. But unlike V, you saw white where he saw black. You chased the dawn and he the night, both different and yet so painfully similar that -

V wanted to be selfish, just this once. To cling to this attachment to you and for someone to just understand him and accept him. To no longer be denied a semblance of companionship before **the end** …Perhaps it could be the only time he would allow himself to do so. If you were both on borrowed time, then…

“Can I see another’s woe and not be in sorrow too…can I see another’s grief and not seek for kind relief…?”

_She’s just as lonely as you are V._

A long, pale finger lightly traced the curve of your cheek. _’I know.’_

**A few hours later - Subway Entrance----**

You waved as Nero leapt down from a nearby roof; soaring down on the Punchline. He good-naturedly posed for you as you snapped a picture.

“You’re such a showoff.” You snorted, seeing him just hover on that mechanical arm and grinning smugly. “Even with you surfing on that, we still beat you here.”

“Hey, I let you guys get here first. Besides, I’ll even the score by kicking more demon ass than you.”

You shook your head but couldn’t help but grin in return. “You’re on, loser has to pay some of the winner’s tab with Nico.”

“Heh, then you better start saving up.” He revved up his sword to prove his point, “Cause I’m gonna empty out your wallet.”

“Well, that would just be all the more disappointing when I win, don’t you agree?”

You both turned to look at V, who just leaned on his cane nonchalantly while smirking faintly. The two of you shared a glance before zeroing in on the summoner who looked far too pleased with himself.

“You’re on!”

You ran ahead into the subway first.

The ground rumbled and you saw barriers begin to rise up.

“Whoa-hey!” You turned around and tried to backtrack but skidded to a stop as more barriers appeared, separating the three of you. You knocked on the magical wall and yelped when it shocked you in retaliation.

“There’s no way to bring down the barriers until all the demons that raised it have been exterminated.” You heard V explain to you from behind his own barricade.

“Tch – there’s no helping it then. The subway is straightforward, we’ll hit each other at the end if we don’t bring these down first in the process.”

You heard Nero sprinting off, telling you to not die on the way. V made you promise him to be careful and to not take unnecessary risks before he took off as well. You peered into the flickering darkness of the station and the tunnels, and tried to tamp down your nervousness. 

“Get a grip ____. You can’t rely on them forever. Remember what you said? Standing on your own two feet!”

You gripped your gunblade and summoned your Persona. Better get this over with as quickly as you can.

You disappeared into the echoing darkness.

**With You----**

Your heart pounded in your throat, blood was rushing so fast that it was all you could hear as you cautiously moved forward. It was eerie, everything was half lit by flickering lights, casting more shadows that made you jump far too many times to be good for your heart. You couldn’t hold back a startled shriek as a Pyro Bat dove at you from the looming darkness, alerted by the flicking flames of your Persona.

You quickly brought yourself back to attention and glared at the demon. “You’re going to pay for that!” Leveling your gunblade at it, you quickly brought it down with your bullets and finished the job with a vicious stab. Your face felt hot in embarrassment at being caught unawares like that.

“I can’t believe I freaked out like that.” You muttered to yourself.

Thankfully though, you passed through the station without encountering anything else. But your luck ran out when you hit a dead end and had to venture into the tunnel. You gulped, trying to summon enough courage to walk into the inky darkness.

It’s just…it was so dark that you won’t be able to see anything coming at you. But they’d be able to see you.

“Well, well…a Dx2 brat, here of all places?”

Whirling around, you brought your gunblade up to parry off a broadsword. You grunted in exertion as the attacker tried to push you down to your knees. You kicked out at their kneecaps and missed but at least you got them to back off.

“What the hell is an Acolyte scum doing here?” You spat, recognizing the ridiculous get up they all wore. Who in their right mind walks around wearing a hooded robe? Was a terrible fashion sense just a requirement of being in a cult?

“Heh, that doesn’t matter too much brat. You won’t be alive to figure it out anyways. Devil Summoning!”

You immediately called on the Inugami Persona to lend you more strength. Three bulky armored demons perched atop fierce looking steeds appeared to protect their summoner. Two Beriths and one Eligor. You recalled that they were hefty demons, it was going to be a challenge to make a dent in their armor.

Shit.

“Say your last prayers Dx2 – this is where you die.”

You snarled at him, ” **Never**.”

There was a nudge from Inugami, a whisper of inspiration with your newfound companion. You had access to channel electricity into your blade? Oh hell yes! – that would make cutting into their armor that much easier!

The Beriths went down easily, thanks to the supercharged gunblade and the strength enhancement the Persona lent to you. But the Eligor was proving to be more of a battle. The demon had the advantage of height and defense over you. It was all you could do to just dodge and defend. The attacks left you no room to make an attempt at offense.

_’No good, I’m done for if this keeps up!’_

In a last ditch effort, you pushed the Inugami back and called Eos to you. _’I need to be faster!’_

The world blurred as you darted around the demon, sidestepping the attacks much easier now. Although your strength was starting to flag. Behind, the Acolyte was gritting his teeth in frustration at your tenacity. He had already lost his arsenal of demons, the only one left now was the Eligor that was currently trying to bring you down to submission. He decided that the battle was dragging out too long and called back the demon. He would finish the job himself.

You gasped in shock as the broadsword pierced into your dominant shoulder, you lost your grip on your gunblade. Blood flecked your lips as you stared up at the smirking Acolyte.

“This is the end for you.” He sneered.

“Don’t count on it.” The Inugami Persona surged forth, wrapping you and the Acolyte tightly in a bolt storm of electricity. The Acolyte screamed before turning into ash. You gagged and threw up from the smell of charred flesh, heaving until there was nothing left.

You coughed a few more times and wiped at your lips, breathing heavily.

It had to be done…you had to survive.

“It’s alright, it’s gonna be okay…” You murmured to yourself, waiting for the nausea to recede.

You swallowed a few more times and shakily stood up. There was a shuffle of rubble to your right. You whirled around and saw a shadow flit towards a ticket kiosk. A quick heal from Eos helped you steady your balance and you quietly went to investigate.

“Who’s there!” You demanded, clicking your gunblade.

“Wah! Don’t eat me!”

A small demon floating in a jar was cowering at the sight of you. An…Agathion?

You lowered your gunblade, quirking an eyebrow at it. You felt a little mean for scaring something that looked so pitiful. “Eh…I’m not gonna eat you…you don’t really look that tasty anyways.”

The Agathion suddenly laughed. “Hey yeah, I’m not tasty at all lady. Umm…” It floated closer to you, looking curious. “Hey miss, you got any candy?”

Ookaay? This demon was rather friendly for...well for being a demon. It seemed more like a small, and rather attention deficient child than anything. You thought for a bit and decided that maybe it would like the red orbs you’ve collected earlier? You tossed a handful to it and watched as it happily devoured it.

Then it turned back to you and grinned, turning itself into a purple orb that suddenly dived right at you.

You had been expecting an attack but…the Agathion merely merged with your soul and became a new Persona! 

**I’m Agathion! Thank you so much miss for adopting me! Now I don’t have to wander around by myself anymore! If you need to confuse an enemy to run away, summon me!**

You put your hand over your heart, feeling a strong sense of gratitude for your simple gesture of kindness by giving it candy. You were shocked that you acquired yet another Persona. That had been…unexpected.

You thought that the Persona felt like Nero.

You continued on through the darkness.

A few more battles later, you hear the sounds of Nero fighting up ahead. There was a giant reptilian demon emerging from the other end, right behind Nero in his blind spot. You didn’t hesitate to step in and fire off a round of bullets at it to keep it from advancing on the unaware hunter.

“Duck Nero!”

“Dammit, you nearly got me instead!”

“I just saved your ass from getting shredded!” 

You threw yourself back to avoid a swipe of those wickedly sharp claws. Nero juggled the demon up with an uppercut swing of his sword and threw in a round of bullets at it for good measure. The two of you charged at the Riot as it fell and slashed at it from opposite directions, bisecting it cleanly in pieces. You coughed and waved your hand when you sucked in a lungful of demon ashes by mistake.

Nero scratched the side of cheek as he shouldered his sword. “Geez that was the most boring battle yet.” He pointed at you in annoyance, “And you! You’re all over the place! All these battles and you still can’t fucking dodge roll, are you kidding me? Did you already forget what I told you about throwing yourself all over the place, that it was just a waste of energy – and are you listening to me!?”

He scowled at you as you doubled over in laughter.

“Are-are you lecturing me Nero? Really, at a time like this?” You wheezed.

Nero pinked and looked away. “Geez, it’s a habit I picked up from Kyrie’s brother okay? That bastard used to always work my ass to the bone when I trained. Even during dinner, he was always lecturing me on how sloppy my form was.”

There was a wistful look on his face as his voice grew softer. “Credo was the one who also beat into my head about getting stronger…If I couldn’t get stronger to protect myself, then how was I going to protect Kyrie?”

The Chariot Persona you acquired flared in your heart. “How did you meet?”

He grinned at you, and you felt a happiness swell in you from the Agathion. Yes! This is the right question to ask!

“We all grew up in the same orphanage. Kyrie…Kyrie was my first friend there. While we were there, Credo worked his way up in the Order of the Sword, to get enough money to get her out of there. And you know, Kyrie has this bad habit of feeling sorry for everyone she meets. Got her brother to take me in too because according to her, I was family too.”

You smiled, seeing the love and fondness clear on his face as he lingered over the thought of his wife. “She sounds wonderful Nero.”

“Yeah she is.”

“Did you – did you ever try to look for your parents?”

He shrugged, “Yeah but no one knew anything. Eventually I just let it go. I kinda feel like there’s a good reason why I never found out anything about them. Like maybe they were just really shitty people and it’s been long enough that I don’t care anymore. It’s hasn’t bothered me as much as when I was kid.”

There was a soft pulse in your heart.

Nero was lying.

You could feel the sadness still there, a lingering longing for a family, for closure on his birth. It made you ache and prompted you to blurt out the first thought that came to mind.

“You know…it may not be a conventional family, but you still found a family anyways.” 

He looked at you quizzically, a little puzzled at how easily you read him. Was he getting that obvious?

“You made yourself a family with Kyrie and her brother in your childhood. And now, you’ve made it bigger with the Devil Hunters…and me. Being related to someone by blood doesn’t make you automatically family anyways.” You insisted, “It’s the people that you share your pain and hardships with, the people that support you and vice versa. From where I’m sitting Nero, you’ve got a family that anyone would envy.”

“Heh…” He was crimson now. “You’re really cheesy ____, did you know that?”

**With V----**

V felt strangely bereft, wandering through the tunnels on his own, with only his familiars by his side.

It made him recklessly breeze through all his battles, a sort of distraught frenzy seemed to have overtaken him. What was this feeling? This pressure that chained his heart and froze his bones?

“Hate to break it to ya V, but you’re experiencing what people call separation anxiety.” Griffon, ever astute, helpfully pointed out.

The summoner stayed quiet, ears straining in the darkness. He could pick out the faint sounds of gunfire and clash of steel but was it you or Nero?

At one point, he thought he heard you screaming faintly in the distance. He shuddered, hands clenching tightly as it brought back an old memory to the surface. Of flames and demons… a woman crying in the distance…and the feelings of helplessness and bitterness for not having enough strength…

“It’s gonna be okay V, she’s a tough cookie.” Griffon reassured him, perched on Shadow’s back as they quietly slinked along.

V wonders…if _she_ ever felt this same crippling worry. This emotion was clouding his reason, it made him gasp at the intensity of the desire to get to your side, to see you **safe.**

The tunnels were quiet, there was hardly any activity besides himself as he traversed through. The silence was deafening, it caused the thoughts swirling in his head to echo too loudly. There was nothing to distract him from his reflections on his attachment to you. Like a strong undercurrent, V felt as if he were drowning, quick and deep into it.

But he wasn’t resisting very hard was he?

V understood himself well enough.

He had never been a man to do things by halves, whatever he hated and loved, he threw himself impulsively and completely into it, consequences be damned.

“Geez, you got it pretty bad huh V?”

And then Griffon added quietly, almost sadly, “You know how it’s gonna end though right?”

A wry smirk, “…I shall leave it in her hands and abide by her wishes. There is already enough pain in her life, I will not burden her with mine unless…unless it is what she wishes. If she deems this broken man is worthy enough…”

And because V was selfish all the way down to the core, he wanted you to return his developing feelings. He was so tired of always being cheated on the things in life that others took for granted. Just this once…because you were both on borrowed time anyways, he could justify throwing himself into this. So much of his life had been spent in misery, and in wallowing in the depths of resentment and rage at abandonment.

For the first time in his life, there was someone who could stave off the loneliness he felt. Having had a taste of it now, knowing now what contentment and peace could be like…He found he couldn’t bear to give it up. Not after all this time, finally…

He couldn’t – didn’t want to go back to that isolated existence.

Consequences be damned.

**Outside the subway----**

V was the first to emerge.

V was alone.

He sighed and leaned his back against a broken wall, making sure that he was in sight and facing the subway exit. Shadow lay curled at his feet and Griffon simply just sat quietly at his side.

_’Please be safe.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the V that is emerging from this story is quite impulsive and a tad selfish. But as he stated he has not been one to deny his desires as they come, whether it is for revenge or for companionship, he will go after it with everything he is. For a man that has been dealt a hard hand in life, I don't know if he is self-sacrificing enough to give up a taste of having someone be there for him, not when he's been denied it his whole life.  
> Thank you for stopping by, as always you do make this author quite happy by just visiting~


	15. A Suspended Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gratuitous NSFW moment included.  
> Edited 07.24.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love.  
> (William Blake)

### A Suspended Moment

Nero snickered at the wide-eyed deer in the headlights expression on your face as V fussed over you like a mother hen. It had been unexpected to see, V barreling right over to you and proceeding to make sure you were in one piece the moment you stepped out of the subway. And then also hearing him proceed to chew you out for getting stabbed in the shoulder.

Heh, so the bastard did have a heart after all.

“Hold still ____.”

“V I’m telling you, I’m fine!”

“You’re injured.” He said pointedly.

“ _It’s healing_.” You insisted, trying to correct him in vain.

V was still convinced that you were trying to hide other injuries and he intended to reassure himself that you were truly alright. He would not be satisfied with anything less.

Nero finally took pity on you after watching you fruitlessly try to bat V away. “Geez V, you keep pulling her apart like then you’re not gonna be able to put her back together again.”

You flushed and bit your lips when V continued to simply ignore Nero’s less than helpful advice.

There was an embarrassing sort of giddiness in your heart that was threatening to bubble out of you as giggles. You did your best to keep it under wraps. You really didn’t want to start up the whole school-girl routine right now just because your crush had been endearingly worried for you. You’d never live it down.

Although crush sounded so juvenile.

Romantic Interest?

 _’…V I’d Like to Fuck?’_ Your face went hot at that thought, you really needed to work on reigning in those inappropriate thoughts more.

“Hmm? You’re turning quite red again, ____. Care to share?” His face was too close to yours, there was a knowing glint in his eyes.

You elbowed him again.

“Space. V. We talked about this.” You hissed, not really ready to admit out loud that you might be in head over heels for the poet. At least, you’re not planning on admitting anything to him in front of an audience.

Nero raised an eyebrow, getting a sense of déjà vu from watching your antics. Oof, Kyrie does the exact same thing to him. He unconsciously rubbed his stomach. Was violence programmed in a girl’s DNA or something?

He shook his head, “Come on guys, you can confess your undying love for each other later. We gotta get going.”

You huffed and began walking forward but V stopped you by hooking his cane in the crook of your arm. He leaned in close to your ear, and softly murmured, “We’ll finish this later, _____.”

He threw you another faint smirk over his shoulder and walked off, entirely too pleased with the dumbfounded look on your face. 

He—your mind and heart stuttered a little. 

You really didn’t think your heart could take any more shocks like this.

You gulped in faint terror, “He’s really going to make me admit it, isn’t he?”

You were scared.

You felt strangely excited.

**Opera House----**

The opera house seemed mostly intact, to your surprise. Although you noticed that part of the roof had collapsed in, letting in streaks of sunlight that lit up the stage prettily. 

How dramatic.

You took it back when a band of strangely armored demons descended rapidly onto the stage to face you. The ground rumbled with the added weight and the stage broke off and began sliding down the mountain with everyone still standing on it. _’Now this, was dramatic. Heh, looks like we’re the main event!’_

To your side, you heard V snarl beneath his breath at the sight of the demons. His eyes trained on one in particular with a cold and hateful gaze.

“What evil lurks… **I must destroy**.”

“Tch, thought we were doing that already.” Nero revved his sword, “Come on, what are we waiting for?”

You were already aglow with your Persona, “You guys better take this, I’ll be here with support. Those guys are really out of my league.” These demons were not like any of the others you’ve faced so far. Instead of getting in the hunters’ way, you’ll back them up as best as you can.

Nero glanced over at you and nodded, “Alright then, watch our backs!”

Nero and V slashed their way through, both whirling confidently around each other without getting in the other’s way. Shadow and Griffon blended their attacks together seamlessly, relentlessly rushing the Scudo Angelos to bring them down for either V or Nero to finish the job. V concentrated the majority of his fury at the largest one of them all – the Proto Angelo. It was breathtaking to watch them dance across the stage, the song of battle singing in their blood as they fought with everything they had.

You concentrated on just dodging and staying just on the edge of the battle, throwing a heal at the two hunters whenever you could spare the breath for it. One Scudo in particular kept chasing after you all over the battlefield, intent on making sure you would be too occupied to provide support. 

“This is getting old fast buddy.” You parried off an attack and swept your gunblade at its legs. It just jumped and tried to smash you into the wall with its shield. You flipped over it to dodge its attack and hurriedly slashed furiously at its turned back. It fell forward on one knee and you took your opportunity there to decapitate it with all your might.

Breathing heavily, you dropped to a knee and sank your gunblade into the stage for support to keep yourself upright. You weren’t fully engaged in the battle, but you were feeling fatigue set in already from trying to split your Persona’s power amongst everyone. Nero and V were whittling away at the rest of the demons but you could see that it was still too much. You splayed your hand over your face, pulling Inugami to the surface despite feeling your reserves start to run dry. “I need to give them more power.” You gritted your teeth, channeling your fervent desire through the bonds that connected you to V and Nero.

_’Let them hit harder, faster!’_

The sight of blue flames flickering around them didn’t faze the two hunters. Whatever you had done, it felt incredible! They could feel a strong sense of encouragement from you, a much needed boost to their flagging morale. Suddenly their strikes were hitting harder, pushing the Angelos on the defensive and turning the battle in their favor.

With a triumphant cry, V dispatched the Proto Angelo. Savage glee and satisfaction writ clearly across his face. Without the strongest member of their party, the rest of the demons quickly fell to Nero’s blade and the familiars’ attacks.

It was then that V noticed that the stage was rapidly running out of ground to slide on. He motioned for Nero to jump off and turned to grab you before leaping off after him. Your hand gripped his tightly, a flashback to the day you fell out of the portal cut through your mind. You turned and winced as you watched the stage shatter to smithereens at the side of the mountain.

Nero dusted himself off and glanced around. “Took us long enough to get here.” He could see the Qliphoth looming that much closer now. He grinned at the sight of you doubled over, trying to catch your breath. “What, you tired already?” He taunted.

You glared at him but didn’t bother wasting your energy on a retort. Seriously. What the hell was Nero on? You’ve seen him get his ass handed so many times and he just gets up and brushes it off like nothing. You wanted to know the secret behind his seemingly unlimited energy.

V looked strangely detached as his gaze swept across the field. His voice was nostalgic as he gazed back into the past. One memory in particular, bubbled to the forefront of his thoughts.

“I just remembered something…This town was attacked once before.” His voice was airy, far away as he took a few steps towards an abandoned playground. “I was here. I can still see it.” V crouched down and reverently let his fingertips graze at a wooden horse. “In fact, I was playing right here.” Off in the distance he saw it, pointing at it with his cane. “That was the house.” His childhood home. He was surprised that the building was still standing in mostly one piece.

Shaking his head, V smiled. “Nero, this is where we part ways. You go ahead.”

“You’re gonna miss all the fun.”

“No, I must seek out the Devil Sword Sparda.” V could feel it finally, that pull on his senses. The sword was very close by. If they could get the sword, Nero just might be able to defeat Urizen with it.

“-What?” Nero asked incredulously. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea, trust me.”

The summoner just chuckled and patted Nero’s shoulder as he walked off, “You’re not the only one who thinks so. But to win this fight, we’re going to need all the help we can get.” 

_’Not the only one?’_ Nero clicked his tongue in annoyance, it seemed like V was back to his usual reticent self again. “Guess there’s no point in thinking about it.” He muttered to himself, walking off towards the tunnels that will take him to the base of the Qliphoth.

He checked over his gear and made looking for a phone his priority. He had a gut feeling that he was going to need to go into his next battles fully equipped.

**With You and V----**

You watched V curiously as he sent off Griffon to scout the area.

He must have felt you burning holes in the side of his head, because he turned to you with a faint smirk…one that held a lot of unspoken promises in it. His hand slowly, gently brushed a lock of hair behind your ear. His hand lingered, lightly falling to graze your neck.

“I’m relieved to see you safe. Truly.”

_’Be still my beating heart…V…you’re going to make this girl throw all caution to the wind…’_

“Likewise V.” You murmured, trying to decipher the expressions flitting across his face.

Something had changed in the poet. He seemed to be resolved on something, determined. You had a suspicion that it centered around you. Your heart beat wildly in your chest when you realized what you were reading in his face. You weren’t misreading the situation were you?

If you weren’t…

If V was truly…if what you were reading in his gestures, and what he was telling you with those eyes of his, the quirk of that smile…

If you were right…

_’Oh god.’_

You knew yourself well enough, you weren’t really exactly the romantic type, despite an unhealthy obsession with the romance genre. You were a bit inept when it came to relationships. You seriously doubted you’d have been able to nurture your bonds as well as you did now without the aid of your Personas who helped you understand the hearts of your friends.

There were so many emotions and desires warring in you. Instinctively you wanted to back off, what could you possibly give V that wouldn’t hurt him further? You valued his company, and his friendship, his promise to watch over you – could you risk damaging and losing all of that? 

Then there was the issue of you going back home…assuming that you all survived this Urizen mess. You had the expectation that once your role here was done… _once the contract was fulfilled_ , you’d be catapulted right back home. Letting yourself become involved with V would mean that…there was a near certain chance you’ll leave him behind. Could you bear to abandon him like that?

_’It would hurt too much…far, far too much to be separated by time and space like that…’_

But the selfish, selfish part of you wanted what he was offering. You cursed yourself, the last thing you wanted was to nurture a bond only to break it later. Here was V offering you something you’ve never really experienced before, the compatibility and the chemistry you were sensing was so insanely kismet…having never felt this strongly towards anyone, it was intoxicating for you. In that moment, you understood now the great lengths some people would go through to protect this feeling. 

_’This feeling is like fire and ice…I’m afraid of it and yet I want it so badly…’_

You wanted to compartmentalize this feeling, bottle it away and take the pragmatic route, as you always had been. It had always been how you survived.

So to throw yourself into this, to be reckless while knowing well what the consequences would be.

…Could you be brave enough?

_’Do I really want to risk my heart like this?...There won’t be anything left to salvage once it’s broken…could I take this risk with V’s heart as well?’_

You heard the flapping of wings, grateful for the interruption. You-you needed to get your head on straight. You cleared your throat, “Did you see anything Griffon?”

“Uh, well I’m not sure what I found. But I think I saw some demons dancing?”

You blinked. So…demons _don’t_ dance then? Or maybe, they just don’t dance that well?

V was amused by the mental image. Hefting his cane in his hand, he walked down the path. “Well, then I guess we keep going. I can sense the Devil Sword Sparda nearby.” V would let you weigh your options for as long as you needed; he had played his cards. Now the decision was entirely yours.

“Man’s got a one track mind sometimes,” Griffon muttered.

“V, what is the Sparda anyways?” You were curious about why this sword was so important for V to want to split from Nero. Wasn’t getting to the Qliphoth more important?

“It’s the sword of the Dark Knight Sparda. The legend speaks of him as a demon who rose against a demon king to protect humanity. This sword in particular houses a portion of his powers…powers that we will need against Urizen.”

You wondered what it was about men and big powerful swords. 

The ground rumbled and the two of you leapt to the side as a strangely harnessed demon barreled its way down the path. It decimated a trio of Caina up ahead and demolished a building before turning around to stomp back to you.

“Just this once, I’d like to NOT be ambushed by a big ugly demon.” You muttered, readying your gunblade.

“What an eyesore.” V growled, snapping his fingers and summoning Nightmare to his side. Griffon dove in and began blasting at the harness of the Behemoth, the demon will fry up better without that pesky armor! Shadow dove in, shifting in between his bladed and spiked forms at V’s direction to assist Griffon.

You passed a hand over the flat of your gunblade, letting the affinity for electricity from Inugami sharpen its edge. A few quick whirls in tandem with Shadow’s attacks helped destroy the harness. Without the armor, the demon became laughably easy for V to dispatch.

“Rest in peace.” V leapt onto its back and struck hard with his cane, absorbing the magic of the demon into himself. _’Not enough…I need more…’_ He was panting lightly, feeling more fatigued that he should have from that battle.

Collecting himself, V continued to lead you through the ruins of the town. The damage here was old, completely separate from the wreckage caused by the summoning of the Qliphoth. You shivered and rubbed at your arms; the ruined scenery reminded you eerily of your own abandoned town. And also of the many ones you’ve passed through over the course of a year. Each one looked exactly the same. The deep gouges and scorch marks on the ground and buildings, rubble littering the streets, the smell of old, old blood and decay…all the results of a demonic attack.

Ahead of you, V was also equally silent in thought. His steps unerring, muscle memory remembering the streets beneath his feet, even though it had been years since he stepped foot back here. Deep in his mind’s eye, he recalled everything as it was before the attack. The smell of bread and wildflowers, the crisp air and the sounds of a bustling town that was _alive_.

But now, this was a graveyard filled with nothing but the ghosts of his memory.

“Awfully quiet V, thinking about mommy dearest?” Griffon asked, breaking the silence finally.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But, the past is a…bitter place for me.”

You let the melancholy poet ruminate in peace. Sensing that he needed time to sort through the feelings this childhood place evoked in him. You were astute enough to piece two and two together from the snippets of conversation between V and Griffon. V had been a child here, and during a demonic attack he must have-

_’I can’t imagine the pain of losing his mother from an attack at so young...but I can still be there to support him in whatever way he needs…’_

You shook your head, you will let V sort through those feelings as he needed. But you wouldn’t dwell on it too much yourself, you didn’t think he’d take it too kindly if he thought you felt pity for him.

_’The man has more pride than he knows what to do with.’_

“I can sense the sword up ahead.” V’s voice broke you out of your thoughts.

Griffon chuckled, seeing the demons from earlier still twisting around in a pool of blood right beneath the Sparda. “Whoa, this is some kind of ritual shindig isn’t it? You guys got the dance fever for Sparda don’t you?”

They looked ridiculous.

You recoiled a little bit when they turned menacingly towards the group. You know you’ve said it several times about how the demons here creeped you out, but these demons were even _freakier_ than the ones you’ve encountered! They were crouched low to ground with a strange mask that served as their faces and a giant arm waving and clenching out of their backs. Ergh…

“I’ll be taking that back.” V smirked mirthlessly, pointing to the sword embedded above, “You know your endless worshipping isn’t making the Sparda any happier.” He mocked, infuriating them.

As freaky and grotesque as those demons were, they were surprisingly easy to kill much to your relief. You were still running a little on fumes since the battle with the Angelos. Anything that was more challenging would have been a bit of a struggle for you. And no doubt, V was starting to feel the strain as well. 

As you bent to scavenge a mask for Nico, behind you, V dislodged the Sparda from the root that held it in place. It dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. V approached it, grasping its handle tightly. He gritted his teeth, feeling his arms tremble with exertion as he bent to try and lift the sword of the ground. 

He was only able to raise it a few inches and no more. 

He grunted and let it drop back down, panting heavily. “It seems this sword is still too strong for me.” Disappointment was laced in his darkened voice. 

Griffon hovered over to V, “So close kid, so close! You’ve got a lot of heart, you really do…but you’re a bit of a sissy in the strength department.” He cackled, “Heh, no offense though.”

You heard Shadow growl, he was peering over the ledge at something. “What is it?” You asked, stepping over to see for yourself too.

Lying on the ground was a man in a red coat. His snowy white hair was matted but still bright enough to glint in the sun. Was he – dead? _’White hair?’_ Your Other chime rang in warning, letting you know that it was something to make note of. But for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out the significance. 

“Dante…” V breathed recognizing the man, anger hardening his voice as he dragged the Sparda with him, down to where the man lay. His steps were angry, his lean body fully tensed and coiled as if ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

Griffon flew down to examine Dante, and noted that his chest was still moving! “I don’t even have the words. I – He’s still alive!”

“The Devil Sword Sparda was concealing his presence, I see.” Another step, V inched closer.

“Man, how does one guy have so much fucking luck huh?” Griffon was still cackling, really what were the odds? Everyone had assumed that Dante was dead; after all the hunter had been soundly defeated by Urizen over a month ago. And no one had seen him since.

V let his cane clatter to the ground, his face twisted into a pained and angry mask as he gripped the Sparda tightly with both hands. 

“V, what are you-?” You stopped yourself, a strong urge from your Personas to not interfere flared brightly in your mind. V needed this, to air out his grievances. This pain that he had been harboring, that had been festering for so long. Grant him release and closure. **Do not take this away from him.**

You clenched your hands and bit your lips, trying hard to restrain yourself from stopping him. But you were worried. This was a hatred that ran deep. It shouldn’t seem so at home in the soft features of the poet you had grown close to.

“V – V!? No, no, no, get a grip on yourself!” Griffon was panicking now.

V continued on doggedly, “If only you could defeat Urizen. If only…no….If you only you never existed! Then I-!” He raised the sword up as high as he could, the tip of the blade hanging dangerously over the unconscious man’s neck.

So much pain and sorrow…the festering resentment that rotted his heart…

_'Did Dante ever lose anything? Did he ever feel pain like the one that sears me right now? Would Dante even remotely understand what I am feeling!?’_

“V! NO!” You started forward. You had to stop him before he did something he regretted.

The sword missed Dante by a hair’s breadth. V was breathing heavily but smirking darkly down at the man who finally opened his eyes.

Dante’s eyes flicked over to the Sparda once. That was literally a close shave – he was positive that the edge might have taken some of the stubble off his face. He groaned and sat up, hearing his back pop like an old man. “For a second there, I thought you were gonna shish kabob me.” He cracked his neck, ouch. Why was he so stiff?

“I know how stubborn you can be, I thought it might be the only way to wake you.” V’s voice was mild; far too, too polite. His entire demeanor was nonchalant, as if the fury that gripped him earlier had never happened.

“How long have I been out?” Dante scratched at the stubble along his jaw, he felt a little overgrown. That was interesting.

“Woo, you’ve been out for a month there Sleeping Beauty. Now up and at it sunshine cause we gotta get going. That pimple Nero is making a beeline for Urizen and if he gets there, he’s gonna get smashed like a bug – wah!”

Dante growled and tossed the avian demon out of his face. What the hell was Nero thinking still going after that demon? He turned to loom over V, “This is my gig. Leave Nero out of this.”

V stood up and picked up his fallen cane, “Urizen is much stronger than we could have imagined.” He offered no more explanation to the legendary Devil Hunter. _’And our last hope, Nero…was useless…’_

Dante tsk’d as he walked over and pulled the Sparda out of the ground with ease. The sight of Dante cockily shouldering the blade without issue sent a frisson of jealousy in V. _’Even now, I am still not worthy of Sparda’s power…’_

“Enough’s enough. Eh, can’t let a boy, do a man’s job.” Dante waved back at everyone and walked off in the direction of the Qliphoth, his steps quickening as his muscles stretched and woke.

What – “Hey wait! I’m not done talking yet!” V slipped, foot catching on a root.

Dante paused, looking over at the slender man who was struggling to pull himself back to his feet. “Okay, you get some rest. I’ll owe ya one.” 

You hurried over to V’s side, noticing that he looked incredibly pale and wan. “V, are you feeling okay?” You asked softly. 

“I must have…over exerted myself in the past battles.”

“Hey doll-face, think you can carry Shakespeare a bit? The house is just up ahead.”

“Yeah. Come on V, it’s getting dark. Let’s find a place to sleep tonight.”

You glanced back at the man in red disappearing over the hill, so that was Dante?

V was leaning heavily against you, resorting to having to use you and his cane for support as you made your way slowly to the house at the end of the path.

“This…was where you grew up?” Your eyes took in the enormous mansion. That did explain quite a bit about your poet though. The erudite manner of conversation he engaged in, down to his pride as a gentleman. His parents must have given him quite the education, judging from the faded indicators of wealth that marked his childhood home.

“Yes. I cannot sense any demons in the area. We should be quite safe to stay here for the night.”

The slow crawl up the path to the remnants of the manor flooded V with so many memories. Happy ones, angry ones and the most painful ones assailed him. A part of him wished that he was bringing you here for a much more different reason. To have you see it in its former beauty and glory. His eyes flicked over at you.

_’She should be coming here with a veil and a crown of roses.’_

**************************NSFW Ahead***************************

“Heh, home sweet home, ain’t that right V?”

“That is up for debate.”

You gazed up at an oil painting that hung on the wall opposite of the entrance. The picture was heavily damaged, slashed and burnt but you thought you could make out the silhouette of a man and a woman…and two little boys. Which one was V?

“For a time, life had been idyllic. The four of us…here.” He murmured, grasping at your elbow to pull you towards one of the wings. 

“I’m sorry that you lost that peace V.”

V glanced at you in surprise – you really were too astute for your own good.

“And yet life continues on ____.” He answered, stopping in front of a door at the end of the hallway. The door creaked open and you saw what probably used to be a luxurious room. A large four poster bed draped in blue sat in the middle of the room…in fact blue was the theme of this room. On one wall, an entire bookcase spanned its length, stacked full with dusty tomes and books.

You bit your lip, understanding the implications of V allowing you a glimpse of his room. There was a patience in his gaze, but also an undercurrent of something else…something much hotter. However he would not push you for anything you did not want.

You took a deep breath and stepped in first, fighting the urge to flinch when the door snapped shut. _’Boy am I really glad we got to clean up just now.’_ You nervously carded your hand through your damp hair, discreetly watching V through your lashes as he placed his cane and beloved book gingerly on a desk. 

The two of you worked quietly to shake out the dust out of the covers. 

Internally, you weighed the consequences. Something had changed in the dynamic between the two of you. You couldn’t pinpoint when, but you definitely felt it all the same. The question now was, did you want this to go farther? Or will this just be a moment’s guilty pleasure?

The answer came to you as quickly as the question was formed in your mind. Your heart had decided a little while ago while you helped V navigate to the standing remains of his childhood home.

You wanted whatever V was willing to give to you. 

For as long as he was willing.

In hindsight, you knew that this was something that had been building. Somewhere, somehow, the two of you connected and bonded unexpectedly but so deeply that this was simply the next inevitable step. If there was a time to turn back, the two of you had long missed that opportunity.

An exchange tonight between two lonely souls that resonated so strongly with each other because of the burdens and hardships you each carried. A moment to ease the loneliness you both understood so well. A confirmation of the connection the two of you felt towards each other…this inexplicable magnetic pull that continuously wrapped you around each other until you could no longer imagine separating.

The two of you lay in the bed, side by side. Both refreshed and nervous. Both also feeling the anticipation. He was close enough for you to touch. His gaze was open, inviting. 

**Smouldering.**

“_____. I will not push you. This is your decision, yours to control.” He murmured.

Good thing, you already made your choice. 

Your fingers grasped at his vest to pull him close to you, your lips pressing feverishly against his. The chill of the room was swept away from the heat of your kisses and the warmth of your bodies pressing close together.

No regrets.

“____.” V murmured your name over and over, moving over slightly to pin you beneath him. You were so warm and pliant. Your eyes saw only him, everything tonight…was all his for the taking. His lips slanted over and over your mouth hungrily, intent on imprinting the taste of you into his memory. Your lips were plush, soft against his.

He elicited the sweetest gasps and breathiest moans from you. His lips and teeth mapping a stinging trail of adoration down your jaw to the column of your neck, across your shoulders. His agile fingers worked efficiently to divest you of your clothing. The soft shush of the fabric sliding across your heated skin gave your goosebumps and heightened your sensitivity. Your own hands were just as busy, working to disentangle the ties of his vest so you could push it off his slim shoulders.

You bit your lip as your eyes traced the whorls of his tattoos greedily. They did go down pretty far. That was one mystery solved about your poet.

“See something you like?” He chuckled indulgently, hands caressing the curves and planes of your body.

His voice was warm, rich and husky.

In response, you just pulled him down for another hungry, needy kiss. His fingers lightly traced down your sides, down to rest on your hips. Every inch of skin was exposed to his wandering hands, blushed from the caresses he generously doled out. He wanted to sear everything about you into his memory.

Exquisite.

Beautiful.

**His.**

His clever lips and tongue teased the stiffened peaks of your nipples - Swirling gently round and round, teasingly building that hunger within you. You arched into him, hands tangling into his hair at the pleasure that skittered up your spine. The light scratch of the stubble of his jaw against the sensitive skin teased your nerves into overdrive. You moaned softly for him, only for him.

No holding back tonight.

He would have everything from you. He would take all that you were freely offering to him.

And in return you would have all of him.

Your lips trailed hotly across his shoulders, blunted nails lightly scratching down his back as he worked to discover everything that would make you writhe deliciously for him. A kiss at the hollow of your neck. A stinging nip at the softness of your thighs. Breathing hotly into your ear, murmuring to you in a sinful voice all the wicked, wicked things he wanted to do to you - to watch you come undone for him over and over as many times as he pleased.

“V…” You pleaded, staring up at him with eyes filled with desire.

Only for him.

Off slid your panties, down your legs. V parted your thighs, diving in to sample the arousal that he was stroking within you. 

“Like salt and honey ____.” He rumbled.

You were so alluring, flushed and sparkling with perspiration from his ministrations. He smirked wickedly at you, a finger slipping deep inside your dripping cunt, curling just so that it had you arching as far as you could into his clever, clever hand. His name slipped past your lips in supplication. **Fuck!**

The stretch of your body from his fingers had your mind reeling in a dizzying euphoria. Your body was so, so hot. Feverish even. The desire to find release wanted to be addressed, no more delayed gratification. The headiness in seeing V between your legs, a feral grin across his lips, for all purposes looking as if he was ready to devour you…

Oh god, you wanted that.

“Use your words ____. I want to hear it from your lovely lips. _**Tell me you want me.**_ ” He demanded of you, another finger slipping inside to drive you insane from pleasure. You were so wet for him, your arousal heavily slicking his fingers. 

“Fuck me V.” You said succinctly, pulling him back up to you for another rough kiss even as a whine bubbled from your throat at the loss of his wicked fingers.

“As the lady wishes.” He purred silkily at you, locking your hands above your head.

He slid into you in one smooth, deep, deep thrust. You gasped, then moaned wantonly as his hips **moved** , surging deep into you; stretching you so roughly and deliciously. You pushed against the grip he had on your hands, wrapping your legs around his slim hips, trying to increase the friction, to deepen that angle of penetration.

More – please!

You gasped his name over and over, at times pleading with him for more, to never stop. Your head swam from the dizzying pleasure that erupted within you. The slide of his cock, in and out of you, had you losing your senses. The world narrowed down to him, and the burning pleasure that he had intoxicated you with. 

So, so close!

You panted his name, begged for harder, faster!

“Give me everything _____.” He growled at you, complying with your wishes, chasing down that orgasm that was nearly his.

Bodies moving in tandem, slick from exertion and yet never seeming satisfied. Almost! Then - you shattered brilliantly for him, his name fell from your lips in wanton adoration and bliss as your orgasm crushed you into submission from the pleasure he wrought on your senses.

The press of his teeth at your neck, a slew of erratic thrusts, a sticky hotness splashing on your belly and thighs and then a deep groan told you that V was just as unraveled as you were. Although he showed no signs of being done just yet….judging by how hard he still was against your thighs.

You bit your lip and made a decision. You rolled him beneath you so you could straddle him, a small, siren’s smile stretched across your lips. V’s hands automatically gripped your hips as you teasingly rocked yourself over his still hard cock. 

“Not yet satisfied ____?” He murmured, eyes glinting in desire and amusement. Seeing the want in your expressions, the seeming insatiable need you had for him. Gods, it was enough to make him cum again for you.

The two of you will never be satisfied with just this moment. You were greedy for more. And more you will have before the night is through.

“I’m making the most of our free time.” You murmured, leaning in to languidly kiss him. Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling at it lightly as your blunt nails scraped his scalp in a way that had him twitching beneath you. 

His grip on your hips tightened as his hips bucked up, his cock sliding in deep inside you again. Tongues twined sensuously together as you slowly, teasingly lifted yourself so that only the tip of his cock was still buried in you. You flashed him a wicked smirk and sank down roughly, suddenly on him. His nails were digging into your skin, a groan of pure masculine pleasure passed his lips.

“Tempestuous siren.”

You continued to ride him, keeping a steady, maddening rhythm that had him fighting to keep from cumming too soon. You were arched above him, eyes sparkling in desire and lust. Only for him. You moved to twine your hands tightly together in his as he helped to give you an anchor amidst the storm of pleasure brewing between you.

“Let me take you to your ruin V.” You murmured, loving how he grew more feral at your boldness.

Breaths quickening, your hearts racing wildly. The maddening and intoxicating pleasure of the clenching of your cunt around his cock. The frenzied friction, your soft moans and his voice hoarse and rough from the cries of rapture and pleasure. It made for a symphony of desire that culminated into a euphoric bliss that the two of you could only find together.

You were so close! His name fell from your lips, desperate, pleading, _loving_. 

His hips surged powerfully beneath you, the thrusts rough and so deep that you thought you’d never able to separate again.

“V – I…” You cried into his shoulder, arms looped around him tightly as another orgasm lit all your nerves anew.

Without breaking your connection, V gathered you in his arms and you were suddenly on your back again, legs hooked over his shoulders…the penetration even _deeper_. His face was twisted in ecstasy, seeing you sprawled and open beneath him, taking everything he was giving to you and giving yourself entirely to him in return.

This time he drove himself as deeply as he could, filling you to the brim.

Everything was deliciously throbbing and sore. 

“No regrets V.” You murmured, curling into his arms. “Never will regret it.” 

He pulled you closer to him, lips pressed into your hair.

“Never.” He affirmed.

This bond between the two of you…V would cherish it and nurture it for as long as he was able.

It will be his most treasured possession.

Throughout the night, you both luxuriated in each other’s company and arms. At times, it had been straight fucking, just trying to satiate the need that had grown exponentially between the two of you. At other times, it was gentle and exploratory, learning every little thing that brought pleasure to the other.

The Next Morning ************End NSFW*********************************

Did that really happen?

You peeked from your eyelashes at the tattooed man that held you tightly against him. His heartbeat was strong and stable beneath you. His face in peaceful repose as he slept deeply. You hissed as you shifted a little, feeling sore in places you didn’t think could be sore.

Yup.

That did happen.

For a brief moment, you lay there in his arms…caught in the painful daydream of _what if._

If only the two of you could stay suspended in this moment.

The two of you prolonged the inevitable as long as you could.

And then finally, sadly…it was time to depart. 

But the two of you left, hands held tightly together. Both a pillar in the storm of emotions that were newly awakened in you. 

You had to be strong, to shoulder each other for the final moments ahead.

No regrets.

**Nico’s Van----**

“I think I see a phone up ahead, let’s call Nico.”

There was a sound of tires skidding on the pavement immediately after you heard the phone being picked up. You both watched, impressed as the RV rolled over and over before landing upright right in front of you. 

“Anyone need a ride?” Nico grinned, waving you in.

You stepped inside the van and sat down on the couch with a sigh and tried to stretch your back out, ignoring the burning holes Nico and Lady were drilling into the side of your head.

Lady was impatient at how quiet you had been for the past ten minutes and was just about to ask you about the soft look in your eyes when Nico beat her to it.

“Heh, never thought you’d be the type to rock the freshly fucked glow ____.”

You pinked and turned your head to the side, trying hard to tamp down your embarrassment. Seriously, did she have to notice everything? Also, why were they so nosy?

“I don’t kiss and tell.” You crossed your arms with a stubborn look on your face.

“Heh, no one’s asking you to do that. It’s just-“ Nico stopped as Lady interrupted her.

“____, you sure this is what you want?”

Your eyes snapped up to see the two of them looking at you with concern. Just how much did Nico tell Lady…and how much had she seen before you realized any of this yourself? You glared suspiciously at Nico who stared unflinchingly right back at you. V wasn’t the only one who had made a silent promise to protect your fragile heart after all.

You sighed, you had no choice now but to come out clean and admit it.

Nico wasn’t going to settle for less after all.

“Yes. Whatever is going on between us, yes I want it.” _Everything, I do want everything.’_

Unbeknownst to all of you, V was outside, leaning against the van, listening very carefully.

“You’re a sweet kid, but you know nothing about him though.” Lady started, wanting to tell you about her suspicions about him. She didn’t want to see you hurt by this either.

You cut her off, “It’s ok that I don’t. One day he’ll open up to me, until then I won’t rush him. Right now, I just…” You looked up at the ceiling a little helplessly, “-I just want to be there for him. He needs someone to be there for him, unconditionally. And I want to be that person for him. I get the feeling that it’s been a long, long time since he’s had that. Being lonely for so long…I just want to ease that little for him…for as long as I’m able.”

Your heart was bursting, feeling full and heavy. You were a little scared, in all honesty at how much of your heart you had already given to V. Were these feelings just a byproduct of the high stress and danger the two of you were constantly in? Bonds made through battles, seeing the sides of V that he normally kept hidden away, everything about him, you had become hyper aware of and it made you ache. 

But yet, when you hear other people talk about how wonderful being in love was, how light it made someone feel...you felt like they forgot something. About how it felt heavy at the same time too. Somehow, you felt that this 'relationship' of yours with V, might still end in heartbreak no matter how you looked at it.

“But it’s ok…” You said softly, “The time we have now is enough.”

“Geez ____, you got it bad darling.”

The girls quietly supported you by squeezing your hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight with Elder Geryon Knight happened in Chapter 10, while you elected to stay at the RV. Just in case anyone was wondering how V acquired information about the Devil Sword Sparda. I just chose not to write it out so I could just move the plot along instead heehee.
> 
> And I can easily imagine Nico talking to Lady about the stray girl she’s unofficially adopted and asking for her thoughts on things concerning said girl and trying to expand her support network.
> 
> Some final thoughts on this chapter, I think in the face of the likelihood of death, we might sometimes make rash decisions with the belief that there is a slim chance of having to deal with the consequences of those decisions. Like falling into love in the middle of an apocalypse. High stress situations, I believe would most likely facilitate that, even help deepen feelings that normally would take longer to develop. But then, if you were going to die at any moment, would you regret being a little bit more selfish? I don’t think I would.
> 
> Thank you all for visiting – you do make me happy by indulging in this ride with me. Much love~


	16. As the World Falls Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I really, really rehauled this chapter. Nearly 9k words, so easily doubled the original version. Those of you who vaguely remember the previous version, kindly purge it from your memory :) It was terrible now that I think on it...yikes. (Can't believe I had the cojones to post it to begin with, not after this baby was written)  
> Please enjoy!  
> Edited 07.27.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you can’t run, you crawl. When you can’t crawl, when you can’t do that…you find someone to carry you…  
> (Firefly)

### As the World Falls Down

Nico was able to drive the two of you a little closer to the Tree before running out of clear road to drive on. The atmosphere inside the van was somber, tense even. She sighed to herself and took another long lungful of her cigarette. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say she was driving everyone to a funeral.

…Which could be true, no one knew for certain if they would make it. But for Nico, the uncertainty and danger was the spice of life. It was a reminder for her to take life by the balls and jerk it hard because life was too goddamn short to waste it being a pansy. Nico lived recklessly but no one could say that it was ever boring, or _safe_. Honestly, besides getting the chance to meet Dante in person, the adrenaline junkie in her was thrilled to have been included in Nero’s mission to save the world. The fact that she was also able to use this mission as a way to pay back for Nero’s help in getting her shit for a dad’s research was icing on the cake.

Her eyes flickered over to the rearview mirror. Lady was puttering around the workbench, headphones plugged in and goggles on as she worked on a project for Nico. Lady was like Nico in that sense, if she was worried or stressed, she couldn’t sit still and just stew in it. Better to use that restless energy to prepare for the shitstorm coming up.

Unlike the other two passengers in her van; those two were the complete opposites of herself and Lady. Both V and ___ tended to spend more time in their heads, no doubt carefully rearranging the data in their heads and computing infinite outcomes for every event they could come up with. Weighing each one cautiously, trying to determine which path was the most prudent one. Notice that Nico said prudent, not the best. Those two were deep thinkers, rationalizers – which meant sometimes they would give up something that meant the world for them for something silly like duty or honor.

Nico wanted to slap them both upside the head for being so stupid sometimes. Like right now. Those two didn’t seem to grasp yet that duty and their wants in life weren’t mutually exclusive.

It was also tooth achingly obvious the two were crazy for each other. The way they both leaned into each other, giving and drawing comfort and strength from the other. They could bask in each other’s presence without talking, because they developed a silent language of partnership already; one filled with meaningful glances and touches. Words were sometimes extraneous with these two.

And because Nico was a genius, she easily interpreted their silence right now as a sort of doomed resignation, honestly they were acting like a pair of star crossed lovers from a sappy play. Thinking that their time was coming to an end and being melodramatic about it. Good grief! For two people who were extremely stubborn, _this_ was going to be the one thing they didn’t want to fight for!? Nico reiterated to herself, she really wanted to slap some sense into them already. She rolled her eyes and decided to shake things up a little for them. Those two back there needed a kick in the ass back to reality.

Nico swerved hard to the right to avoid a swarm of Empusas and whooped as she cheerfully gave them the finger. Chuckling to herself, she muttered about how she felt much better.

“Nico, sometimes you terrify me.” She heard you murmur in faint amusement.

“Darlin’, sometimes you gotta take a risk for what ya want. You don’t let fear and what ifs hold you back from what you want. Fate can take a fucking hike.”

You gave her a strange look, wondering exactly what she meant by that. But there was no time to question it as the van came to a shuddering stop. 

“Alright, end of the line lovebirds. I’ll find my way inside to meet up with ya’ll. You better not die – you both owe me!”

Nico winked at the two of you and sped off in the distance. _’Here’s hoping those two wake the fuck up finally and start fighting back, for their future together.’_ She chuckled, she was such a sucker for happy endings.

“V, you ever get the feeling that Nico is plotting something behind our backs?”

“Everytime.”

“Okay, just checking to make sure I’m not the only one.” 

The two of you turned towards the Tree. There was only a little more distance left to travel now.

You looked ahead, seeing the Qliphoth Tree towering, reaching high to the heavens. A monstrous eyesore. You breathed in deeply, trying to steady your wild heartbeats; you were so close to the end now. One last obstacle and then, the final confrontation against Urizen. But you wouldn’t lie to yourself - you were more apprehensive of the aftermath, than the actual battle.

V looked gravely worried. Judging from the growth of the Tree, it was not much longer now until the Fruit appeared. They needed to hurry. 

_’I need to hurry…I can feel…the magic in me is starting fade away, too fast.’_

_’Hang in there Shakespeare, we’ll keep you going til the end; you’ll make it!’_

V was insistent that the two of you chased after Dante as quickly as possible. There was still so much left to say, so much that Dante needed to know…V couldn’t let this chance go to waste. He couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity to assist Dante in defeating Urizen. And to do that, he needed to…

_’I MUST see this to the end.’_ V’s thoughts ran in desperate circles. The monster that was Urizen...and V’s own role in the path the demon took - His life as of this moment now was forfeit, everything must be pushed to the background; his focus had to be on the endgame. 

At his side, your eyes flickered over at him worriedly. He seemed so drained, even more so than yesterday. The dark circles beneath his eyes were more pronounced and he - V looked gaunt and sickly. The vitality that he possessed just a few days ago seemed…gone. Vanished. It was like a light had dimmed inside of him, a light that was in danger of being snuffed out at any given moment.

_’V…what’s happening to you? I can feel that there is something wrong…it feels like, you’re turning into a mirage, something not tangible anymore…but that, that can’t be right.’_

V turned his eyes to you, holding your hands tightly in his own, searching your face. “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” He said finally, pouring his feelings, and need into that one sentence. V didn’t want you to hate him – he wanted you to understand that. His lifeline was growing shorter every second, and he had no more time left to give to you. You deserved more, and he was sorry to have to relegate you back to your former role as a hunter…and not his lover.

You leaned in to lightly press your lips to his, your eyes closing to keep the tears at bay. “I understand V.” You could not ask for more from him, you dare not to. V needed everything he had left to complete this mission, which meant no distractions. That was the tragic beauty of your shared experiences, wasn’t it? The two of you understood duty and sacrifice so well when the time called for it. The two of you were cool headed enough, pragmatic enough to do this.

“Please ___, is there not anything I can say to convince you to turn back?” _’Say yes and no ___, I cannot see you hurt but I cannot see you leave either…’_

You pulled him into an embrace, arms wrapped tightly around his middle. A few tears escaped, burning hot on his bare chest. “I told you, you’re not alone in this. I plan on being by your side every step of the way. No matter what. I want my last moments to be with you, and I’ll face that danger with you.” _’I’ll gladly take just the smallest scrap of attention from you V, it’s so pathetic but I’ll take what you can give me. I’ll support you…and…I won’t distract you from what you need to do…’_

Deep inside, you knew you were such a liar. You were just as greedy and selfish as ever, but you fought back against your desires. Some things…were more important than your love. Millions of lives at stake, both here and back home…V would never forgive you for sacrificing the world for him, and neither would you forgive yourself for standing passively as the world came to an end. You had to take the high ground, even if it meant…if it meant giving up what you wanted. For the sake of the innocent ones who couldn’t defend themselves. 

_’This is what it means to be a hero.’_ You thought with a sudden sense of clarity. _’Heroes are born of despair and sacrifice.’_

“V – remember. I’ll _always_ have your back.” _’I love you V.’_ Those last four words died on your lips as you tried to stifle the hitch in your throat. 

His lips pressed against your forehead tenderly. “And I, you.” _’I am not deserving of you, but I will make these last moments count. I cannot ask the universe or you for more. What I was given already…it was far more than I ever thought I could have.’_ “Thank you, ____.”

So you pushed on, following V’s connection to the Sparda until you finally reached Dante as he gingerly lay a blonde woman on the ground. He was smoothing her hair back and throwing a cloth over her to protect her modesty.

“Dante!” V sprinted forward but quickly slowed to a stop, feeling breathless as his chest tightened painfully. His throat tightened as he sank to his knees, his body was starting to tremble violently. _’No! Please, not now!’_

The legendary hunter looked over, “Hey great timing! Look after Trish for me willya?”

“Dante wait!” V pleaded to his retreating back.

No use. Dante was already sprinting off at full speed towards the Qliphoth. Your hands were warm on his chilled skin, the only thing supporting him upright as they grasped his shoulders. V was starting to feel it, the beginning of the end for him. And he didn’t want you to see this…not yet.

“____, will you go with Griffon after Dante.” He asked, keeping his voice as steady as he could.

Your hands tightened just ever so slightly before reluctantly withdrawing. V felt bereft the moment you drew away, wishing he didn’t have to send you away. But Dante – Dante need to know at least this before… 

“Tell Dante…when you catch him…tell him the Rebellion is the key. Unite what was once separated.” 

His hands grasped yours tightly, pulling you down into a lingering kiss. 

You responded in equal desperation, trying to memorize his touch, wishing you didn’t have to separate already. It was painful, like ripping your heart to shreds as you withdrew. “Okay. If I don’t come back…I’ll find you at the Qliphoth.”

Griffon materialized besides you, “We better hurry toots, that bastard got a head start. Don’t take too long in catching up Shakespeare.” He threw V one last worried glance before sweeping off after Dante.

V watched the two of you sprint away, quickly disappearing from his sight. He sighed and seated himself on a rock and pulled out his book, murmuring quietly to himself as he waited for Trish to awaken.

“An Angel came to me and said O pitiable foolish young man! O horrible! O dreadful state! Consider the hot burning dungeon thou art preparing for thyself to all eternity, to which thou art going in such career.”

It wasn’t long before Trish finally stirred, startled into awakening by a frission of fear. That demon-! The hazy memories of the failed attack on Urizen rose to her mind. The last sight of Dante being knocked out of the Qliphoth chamber with the Sparda. And then…the rescue from her prison. Trish looked around, searching.

“Dante’s left.” She murmured to herself as she sat up and held the cloth she was wrapped in close to her chest. The hunter was nowhere in sight and she couldn’t sense him.

“Yes. And I don’t think he can win.” A dark voice answered her.

She glanced over towards V sharply. V was sitting nearby, his ever present book open but his eyes were unseeing. His face sent in a mix of contemplation and exhaustion.

Trish needed answers. “What was that demon V? Where did it come from?” Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. “Urizen is not a demon. I know that for a fact because I’m from the Underworld.” Her sharp gaze noticed the crumbling flesh, a mote of his body flecking away before her eyes.

“My god…what **are** you then?”

V wasn’t human at all, was he?

He chuckled wryly. “It doesn’t matter. I’m a shadow of my former self who lost everything.” He snapped his book shut, eyes levelling coolly at Trish. “I will…tell you the story of my birth.”

“-- And cursing his lot; for in anguish, Urizen was rent from his side…” A self-deprecating smirk lifted the corners of his lips. V breathed in deeply, recalling the chain of events that lead to this moment with clarity and pain, and continued on with his narrative.

“Suffering defeat after defeat, that man’s body was reaching its limit. Breaking down.” Just like how his body was breaking down now. Every breath he took, was a reminder that the next one could very well be his last.

“But – he couldn’t die yet. The man had a job that must be done. To defeat his twin brother.”

He recalled the broken visage reflected in the polished blade of the Yamato. The instant decision to impale himself with the demonic sword. A last desperate gambit born from that burning obsession to finally **get even** with the brother whom he believed had everything and lost nothing. The detested brother who wasn’t left behind and abandoned.

“-In order to defeat his younger brother, he could only do one thing with the crumbling flesh and feelings. He needed to separate man from devil with the strength of the Yamato.”

A pause. He remembered the pain as he thrust the sword through his heart. And the pain of his soul being ripped apart at the seams.

“And eventually…the man became a true devil.”

Horror. Revulsion. He read it clearly across Trish’s face, although he was seeing your face instead. Yes, he was a monster. V clenched a hand, dismayed that the grip was painfully weak. “I’ve tried to hold together my crumbling flesh with what little demonic power I have left but…I’m approaching my limit.” He admitted in humiliation.

“In separating and regaining my human soul, I’ve realized the gravity the crime I’ve committed. I’ve realized how important everything was…everything that I’ve thrown away in the pursuit of power.”

And it came full circle, power…the desire for more power. But look at what that brought him. Endless pain and regret. V could not help but curse Vergil for his foolishness in such a foolhardy pursuit. He cursed his incarnation for his inability to push aside the hurt and rage and for spiraling deeper and deeper in his quest after Sparda’s power. Even though Vergil sought power to never lose anyone close ever again, V wished he sought a different solution to that desire.

“Is that why you went to find Dante?” Trish asked, digesting the information. Everything was making sense now.

“Yes, foolish. I thought that maybe…he could fix…right my mistakes. Tell me, was this fool before you right?” His voice was quiet, but pleading. Please just tell him that he was still redeemable. That despite the mistakes of his former self, this discarded shadow, V, was still worthy enough for redemption.

Trish sighed, and leveled a stern look at him. Her entire demeanor exasperated, scolding even. This feud between the two brothers was past ridiculous. “I’m not your mommy V. You’re a big boy, and you need to see this through.”

Trish clothed herself with her magic and walked off in the direction Dante left in. She stopped and turned an expectant look at V. “Coming?” She had plenty more choice words for the melancholy poet.

**With You and Griffon----**

“Doll-face, you okay there?”

Griffon was concerned, you had been awfully quiet for a long time. Your face was set into a smooth, neutral mask. He hated how - _professional_ you looked and frankly, it wasn’t a good look on you anyways.

You smiled faintly at Griffon, eyes softening as you read the worry in the familiar’s demeanor. You were sorry, you were caught up in your whirling thoughts that you completely forgot about him. A hand reached to lightly stroke his feathers. “Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

He looked at you skeptically, but wisely chose to say nothing. Your eyes were red-rimmed and Griffon was no good around crying females.

**BANG!**

The two of you started - There were gunshots up ahead and you saw Dante skillfully dispatch a horde of demons on his own. Just up ahead was the entrance to the tunnels of the Qliphoth. 

Had you covered that much ground already?

“Hey Dante – wait!” You cried, running up to his side. Finally! 

“Man, kid you don’t give up do you?” Dante was pretty impressed despite himself. He had purposely set a hard pace the moment he noticed you tailing him with the talking chicken. But you were really determined it seemed to follow him. Heh heh, tenacity, he could respect that.

“Look, I really really need you to wait and hear me out –“

“Eh? No time kiddo, I got a date to keep with an ugly trash god. No time for chit chat.” He walked off again.

“Geez, you’re really annoying! Stop!” You ran after him determined not to be left behind. 

“Heh, if I had a dollar for every time someone called me annoying, I’d get to retire early.”

You gritted your teeth as his flippant attitude. Seriously, what was wrong with this guy? You were on edge for having to leave V, from the mess with Urizen and from the mess with your home world. This man was grating on your frayed nerves already and would he just stop for one goddamn second and hear you out!?

You stormed up to him, skidding to a stop right in front of him with your hands on your hips. Your eyes narrowed into a scowl. “Use the Rebellion to unite what was separated.” You huffed the message in a rush, getting the words out while you still had his limited attention. There, finally – you were able to deliver V’s cryptic message to the annoying hunter. 

Dante grinned, a thoughtful look flickering in his eyes. “Hey now why didn’t you just say so in the beginning?” He patted you on the head and smirked when you just bristled at him. You looked like an angry kitten pretending to be a tiger. Cute thing.

The nerve of this guy! “Stop treating me like a kid old man!”

He threw back his head and laughed, a deep and booming laugh that came straight from his belly. “You and Nero are pretty similar. You don’t want to be treated like kids but then you go and throw some of the cutest tantrums ever!”

Your jaw dropped in disbelief. Your jaw clicked shut as you narrowed your eyes at him as he turned on his heel to continue on his way.

“Hey kiddo, you better hurry your ass up cause I ain’t turning back to save you if you get left behind.”

**\------**

“____, look I can see the others up ahead. Go on, you know what to do yeah?” Griffon urged you, sensing that V was nearby as you approached the Qliphoth finally. Griffon sensed that you were rather close to a breakdown and decided maybe seeing V would help calm you down. That and he really couldn’t have you kill Dante before the final battle. The avian demon had never seen anything like it, you usually had a high tolerance for idiots (V ranking high on that list) but it seemed Dante was even too much for your patience to handle.

“Well, looks like no one is worse for wear.” Lady glanced at all of the gathered hunters, quickly searching for any injuries that may need immediate treatment. She sighed quietly in relief and clapped a hand on Dante’s shoulder before making her way to Trish.

Dante made a beeline for V, who was leaning heavily on his cane for support. “Hey what exactly is the garbage god after anyways?” Dante was feeling the urgency to hurry as quickly as he could. He could feel it, the strong, familiar presence that called to his blood; the blood of Sparda.

“He’s at the top of the Qliphoth.”

Dante looked up, trying to sense a glimmer of that demonic power that was Urizen.

Trish scoffed, “It’s the other way around Dante. We’re at the lowest level of the upper echelon of the Qliphoth. V told me everything, the fruit born through the Qliphoth gives un-paralleled power, even the almighty Mundus ate it to become king of the Underworld. This is what Urizen is after.”

There was silence as everyone digested this new bit of information. Essentially, Urizen wanted to become a god then?

Nico chose that moment to shyly and awkwardly sidle up to Dante, fumbling over her words as she introduced herself. You watched quietly from the sidelines with a faint smile as Nico finally, finally got a chance to meet Dante. The star struck look on her face and the rare moment of speechlessness made you chuckle. Although you were unexpectedly surprised when Dante began to moonwalk after receiving her gift. This man was really bizarre. Did he take anything really seriously?

“Hey thanks – I’ll take it.” Dante winked at Nico, who flushed and happily smiled to herself. Her grandmother would be so proud!

“Dante, I’m coming along too.” Nero emerged from the side of the van with mulish look. “I’ve got all the power I need right here! I’m gonna prove that I’m not a deadweight.” He cracked the knuckles of his real hand with the Devil Breaker. Nero had a score to settle and something to prove. No way was he going to be left behind.

“You don’t understand, that’s not what I mean-“ Dante was getting exasperated by all the interruptions. Couldn’t they just let him go after Urizen already? Time was ticking!

“Let him go Dante.” V interrupted, rising slowly to his feet. “Time is a luxury we can no longer afford, we must chase after him, post haste.”

Dante looked at him skeptically, noticing how the frail man was literally falling apart before his eyes. There was a story there – but now was not the time.

“I have a duty to see this through.” V insisted seeing his look. V was determined to see this to its inevitable conclusion.

Dante knew better than to argue with a man with a death wish. “Well that’s all you had to say Mr. Poetry.” He backed away and leapt into the depths of Qliphoth. “I’m gonna go my way and you guys go yours. Let’s just say that’s the best for the cause.” He needed to get there first. Cause this was his gig. And…this was going to be too much for Nero to handle, better to let him finish it once and for all save the kid from doing something he would regret for the rest of his life.

You watched as Nero followed suit, determination set in his face. Nero had a score to settle with the demon that ripped off his arm for the Yamato, and his pride as a Devil Hunter was on the line. “I’ll show you deadweight.” He growled, taking off at a hard run.

V stood motionless at the ledge, gazing down at the twisting tunnels. He wondered, if maybe he should make another attempt to convince you to sit this one out and stay with Nico. Out of harm’s way and spared from witnessing the inevitable end. But you sidled to his side and grasped his hand tightly, a determined look on your face.

“Remember, I said I’ll support you fully in this. I’m not going to back down. You’re not alone.”

V could only be humbled.

“I need to confess something.”

He raised a hand for you to examine, letting you see the extent of the condition of his rapidly deteriorating body. You tracked the cracks that the tattoos had been hiding, to the deepening breaks in his face; the damage clearer now that you much closer. How had this happened so quickly? He had been fine when you left.

“V – I don’t understand…”

“What you see before you, is a man with half a soul but filled with endless regret. I was not meant to survive this long, and the little residue of power I have left that was holding my body together…I am reaching my limits…I am fading away. ”

He turned to you with the most sorrowful look you’ve ever seen. His flaking hands cradled your face, a thumb brushing away a stray tear as you stared up at him in shock and disbelief.

“I am sorry, that there is no happy ending written for us in this life.”

V was sorry for not being able to find the courage to tell you the entire truth.

V was sorry to be the one to be the cause for your tears, for your grief. 

V was sorry that he will leave you behind in this life, to survive a world without him amidst heartbreak.

It wasn’t fair.

If only fate was kinder. 

If only, if only, if only…

…you didn’t have to give up.

**Moving Deeper----**

The two of you slowly descended deeper in the Qliphoth in a somber silence. Both wrapped up in your thoughts as step by step, you walked towards the end. There weren’t that many demons that inhabited the Qliphoth, but the two of you weren’t going to complain. It left you plenty of time for contemplation and rare conversation when you were able to pull yourself out of grief for it.

V was ashamed that the farther you went, the more he had to lean on you for support. Every step was a fire-walk of agony, the crumbling of his body was disturbing and disheartening. You were helpless and fraught with concern as V visibly grew weaker and weaker before your eyes. 

_’I just need to keep going a little longer. I have to make it.’_ V struggled to keep the last remnants of magic from leaving his body. He was losing stamina far too quickly. V was humiliated and ashamed of his body’s frailty and weakness, now when he needed strength the most, he was reduced to nothing more than a burden. His thoughts turned dark.

Was he doomed to always lose everything?

Always, always to be cheated by life?

Always, always to be trapped in bitterness at his fate?

You stayed silent throughout most of the journey, doing your best to simply be there for support. Unsure of what you could say to him to comfort him at a time like this. You wished that there was something you could do – but your Persona was not meant to heal metaphysical pain. You had done your best to knit together his flesh but it crumbled faster than you could keep up with; eventually V simply scolded you and convinced to save your strength.

_’…isn’t there something I can do to save him?’_ There was a part of you that **didn’t** want to accept this. That same part of you that awakened your Persona…it whispered to you, _are you just going to give up without exhausting every avenue?_ But – you argued to yourself, V’s condition…what did you have that could even help?

“I-I am sorry that you must bear me like this.” V’s voice was soft, tired – it pulled you out of your silent argument with yourself.

“Love seeketh not itself to please, not for itself hath any care…but for another…gives it ease and builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.” The words tumbled from your lips a little clumsily, as you tried your best to recall it verbatim.

V found the will to chuckle, warmth filling him to the brim. “You must truly be destined for me, plucking the words I wished to hear from my mind.”

“Odds are in my favor that I’ll do something right once in a while.” You slanted him an amused look, a half smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

A small light moment. Your greedy heart wished for more. To make the most of these last moments, if it was all you had left.

“V – tell me more about yourself. Anything, good, embarrassing…Just anything…” _’Let me know more about the man I fell in love with. Anything to keep the memories of you as real as I can.’_

Another chuckle. “I met the woman destined for me when she literally fell into my arms, screaming like a banshee.” He said fondly, reminiscing of that day. His mind drifted to how of all people, it was _him_ that the universe chose. That portal could have taken you anywhere. To anyone. 

Was it coincidence or kismet or a curse that brought you to him at the moment in time? A blessing in disguise when he was swept into another dimension, lured right to that place that twined your destinies together? A cruel twist of fate that only gave the two of you such a limited amount of time together?

It was all of that…and so much more.

You flushed and slanted a glare at him. “If I recall, your first words to me was an insult about my weight.” You grouched a little moodily.

V continued on, lips quirking into a smile at you bristling indignantly. “That same woman has a terrible habit of being a messy fighter. She’s not particularly graceful either.” V couldn’t help but tease you further, you really did have the most entertaining reactions. And it helped to take his mind off the pain of his existence fading away.

“Not everyone is gifted with the ability to tap dance _gracefully_ , V.” You growled.

He started, eyes wide before narrowing at you in suspicion – now when did you see that!? The tips of his ears flushed in embarrassment that you somehow saw him…

“Those were supposed to be private moments, ____.” He said coolly.

You snorted, “Then don’t be so obvious about it V. I’ve seen you do it several times in battle, it’s not really a private moment anymore. I’ve even caught you playing an air violin with your cane and your posture is terrible.”

He racked his brain, ooh, you were right. He did have a habit of indulging himself in that manner during battle. _’How undignified – I wish she didn’t see that.’_

_’Your lady love still loves you, even if you are a dork V.’_ Griffon supplied helpfully, snickering.

A wicked gleam flashed in his eyes, he knew at least this will even the score, “Shall I regale you instead about my favorite positions to ravish you in?”

“I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman V.” You hissed, blushing darkly despite your efforts not to. _’Ooo, that was a cheap shot!’_ You thought irritably. 

“Only in public. You however bring out the scoundrel in me.”

You rolled your eyes, “Lucky me.”

V traced the profile of your face with his eyes, the way you struggled to hold onto your scowl despite the smile threatening to break across your lips. That was much better, you were meant for smiles and laughter, not misery.

_’The woman destined for me is utterly perfect.’_ That thought made him ache. He wished, he **wanted** , another way to complete his mission without losing himself in the process. He wanted to build more moments like these with you. To learn more about you completely, to unravel those secrets you still kept close to your heart, to exercise his rage at those who have taken advantage of you.

He wanted you to know him completely.

V warred with himself internally, and decided the least he could do…was to own up to the truth.

“When I grew up alone, I did what I had to survive. But that didn’t change the fact that I wanted to be protected and loved as well.” V grunted as he continued to force his tiring body forward. “I made many mistakes ____. And this business with Urizen –“

You passed into a ring of strangely glowing stones. V collapsed completely, screaming once in pain before going limp in your arms.

“V!? V!”

You panicked as you saw the tattoos fade away, his hair turning snowy white. You checked his pulse, still faint but there at least. Your hands lightly tapped at his face, trying to rouse him. What had happened to him? You called his name a few more times with the same unresponsive results.

You looked around, trying to understand what could have rendered him in this catatonic state. The stones? You cursed the string of bad luck that seemed to have followed you everywhere. “I am getting SO sick of all this!” Using your fury at the cruelty of fate to fuel you, you hauled V as upright as you could, slinging his arms around your neck and shoulders and trying to keep one arm wrapped around his waist. You were channeling far too much of your Persona in doing so, you knew you’d regret it later if you ran into enemies, but you did your best to stumble out of the stone ring without dropping him. 

No matter what, you had to get V to Urizen. Since he couldn’t do it, that left the task up to you. And you would not fail him.

One step at a time, you told yourself, trying to keep your grip as steady as you could on the lanky poet. Ooph, why was he so heavy?

“Dammit V, if you died on me I will drag your sorry ass back and kill you myself!” You gritted your teeth, trying to hide your fear underneath anger.

You slowly progressed forward, stopping several times when V groaned in pain. “V, please…don’t lose…whatever is happening…please come back to me.” You whispered in his ear fiercely.

“Fuck!” You hissed under your breath, quickly diving to hide behind a cluster of tall, veined spires. The chittering and clacking of demons were right up ahead, growing closer and closer to the two of you. You didn’t - _couldn’t_ waste precious energy in fighting! Not now! You bit your lip and suddenly remembered you had an ace up your sleeve for times like this!

Turning your palm up, you whispered as quietly as you could, “Come to me Persona, Agathion!”

The little demon in its jar popped into existence, peering up at you curiously. “Yeah? What’s up big sis?”

You raised an eyebrow, big sis? “Can you do something to help us escape those demons without fighting?”

“Heehee – sure thing! I got just the thing for this!” It chimed and floated out towards the demons, its appearance rippling until you saw an exact copy of yourself, standing there cockily. “Hey ugly! Yeah I’m talking to you! Come and get me!” The Persona blew several raspberries at the demons before cheerfully lifting its shirt to flash them. It skipped off, taunting the demons and luring it away from your hiding spot.

You stood there, speechless, jaw dropped in stunned indignation. It was incredibly disturbing to see yourself acting so childish…and so incredibly undignified. “I am so glad that V didn’t see that…he’d never let me forget that…” You slapped a hand over your face in embarrassment and sighed deeply. 

You huffed and rearranged your catatonic poet and continued on. Within your mind, you tugged at the bond that connected you to V, reassuring yourself that he was still there.

“Don’t give up V.” You poured as much encouragement through the bond as you could, hoping it would reach him. 

**\----With V in the Dreamscape----**

V coughed harshly before slowly using his arms to prop himself up to look around. “Where am I?” He glanced down and noticed the stark absence of the markings of his familiars. Well that’s not good. He lost his powers, he’d have to find a way to recover them.

There was a door to his left that wouldn’t budge. “Obviously an exit though.”

He huffed and wandered around, trying to use his senses to lead him to his absent familiars. There was a dimly lit chamber up ahead, he saw his demons suspended in their Stalemate forms waiting within. “I’m claiming back what’s mine.” He toned darkly, raising a hand over the bubble that contained Griffon. 

“Woohoo! Hey you’re still alive? Didja miss me V?” Griffon landed on V’s outstretched arm, ruffling his feathers as he peered at V closely. “Hey – you’re looking a little better than last time, did doll-face manage to heal you up?”

V glanced down at himself in surprise, seeing his skin was much smoother than it was earlier. “This dimension…it’s healing my body.” He glanced over and proceeded to free Shadow and Nightmare as well. 

The chamber rumbled as a magical construct of the Proto Angelo appeared. V’s gaze was dark and deadly as he watched it stand there, waiting for him to make the first move. His deft hands twirled his cane idly, “Well, well. It seems it’s returned for another lesson. And I’m always happy to oblige.”

Griffon swept in with a gleeful cackle as Shadow prowled towards the Angelo. V stayed at a healthy distance, keeping a wary eye on the demon as he directed Griffon and Shadow to alternate their attacks to keep the Angelo confused.

“Slice him.”

Shadow growled and threw himself at the demon, curling his body into a large bladed wheel that relentlessly cut into the demon’s armor. Griffon was hovering above its head, taking care to only make sure his lightning magic was aimed at the Angelo and not Shadow. The armor began to crack from the pressure of their attacks. The demon swung its longsword but missed both familiars as they dodged the attack.

_”Don’t give up V!”_ V felt the strength of your belief in him fill his being. Your sweet presence seemed to have magically refilled his reserves. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he was grateful nonetheless.

“One thought, fills immensity.” He snapped his fingers and summoned Nightmare into the fray. Time to wrap this up.

The hulking familiar stretched and barreled at the Angelo. The longsword was useless against his superior defense. Griffon and Shadow resumed their attacks and allowed Nightmare to take the brunt of the Angelo’s fury. 

“Hehehe, suck on this!” Griffon exploded in a large pillar of lightning, the high energy output paralyzing the demon in place. “Let’s finish this V!”

“Agreed. _Fall into Hell_.” He growled darkly, leaping onto Nightmare’s back so he could launch himself at the Angelo. Magic blazed around him as his cane struck home. 

“Checkmate.”

**Meanwhile – With Nico, Lady and Trish----**

Lady looked over her new weapon with a critical eye, not quite the same as the original but definitely high quality, as expected with Nico’s handiwork. “So who do you think is going to get there first?”

Trish crossed and uncrossed her legs restlessly, looking out the window. “Dante of course. Urizen is the one he’s been chasing after for a long time.”

Lady looked intrigued, in all the time she’s been working alongside the legendary hunter, she’s never heard of this Urizen demon pass from his lips. What was she missing? “Really?”

Trish smirked at the poorly hidden curiosity written all over Lady’s face. “Heh, what’s the matter? Don’t have a clue why?” She goaded, grinning widely as Lady puffed her cheeks in annoyance at her evasiveness.

“Aw come on! Don’t hold out on me Trish! How does Dante know that demon then?”

Trish let Lady stew in her curiosity for a bit longer; it was just too funny to let Lady pout and wheedle for the answers she desperately wanted to know. Finally, Trish decided she could be generous and alleviate her curiosity. “Urizen is Dante’s older brother.”

“Say what now?” Lady was stunned. But then she frowned, “Wait, Dante is a half demon. Urizen isn’t though.”

“Believe me, that demon is Dante’s brother. I can sense it, the connection to Sparda between them. Not to mention, Urizen can wield the Yamato. Vergil’s sword.”

Lady fell quiet. She remembered clearly the snowy haired elder twin, he looked nothing like that demon. Still, that explained Dante’s urgency and insistence in being the only one to confront Urizen. She recalled Dante telling her a little of their rivalry, a long competition steeped in a deep resentment of each other. Oh no…Lady hoped that he wasn’t planning on what she thought he was – for all of Dante’s devil may care attitude, he still **loved** his brother.

“The best thing we can do is be there for him til the end, and after the end, kiddo.” Trish said, correctly reading the thoughts that flitted across Lady’s face. Deep inside, she knew that Dante would need them, more than ever.

Far in the back, Nico kept an ear on the conversation while her attention was focused solely on her latest project. In front her, pulled apart in pieces because the thing was a piece of shit anyways…was the remains of ____’s disposable camera. 

Who knew the film was full already?

**Meanwhile – With You----**

Time slowed to a crawl, or was it speeding up?

You weren’t sure how long you kept at this, trying to haul V’s unconscious body. You had to catch up to Dante and Nero somehow, but you were starting to struggle now. You were exhausted, and all too soon, you felt your Persona flicker out of existence, retreating back inside yourself to recharge. Coming to a stop, you dropped to your knees to catch your breath. Sweat dripped into your eyes and your breathing was harsh and rasping. Faint tremors shook your tired muscles. Your stomach rolled in nausea.

You started when you noticed the return of one of his tattoos. 

You tightened your jaw and pulled deep from your reserves, if V was still fighting, then you couldn’t afford to give up, you couldn’t fail him with his last request to see the end of Urizen. “Come on ____, don’t think about it. Just focus on one step at a time.” You encouraged yourself, grunting as you heaved yourself shakily back on your feet.

A little more progress. And then you felt your body give out, forcing you to tumble to your knees. No – you had to, had to keep going. Must keep going! Every muscle in your body burned terribly, your breathing was harsh and labored. You huffed as you shifted V off of you so that he was resting against the wall of the area you were in. 

Just a little break.

And then you’ll keep going.

“-If he reaches the fruit, then it will all be over.” Voices?

You cautiously crawled a little further ahead, who was there?

“Even Mundus failed to rule over the Human world…”

“…Surely we know he will not…”

You quietly snuck to as close to the voices as you could, peering over the edge and into the chamber below. A three headed demon was talking amongst itself. 

Your lip curled in resentment, this was not the best time to run into a strong demon! You had no strength left, and you doubted even at your peak, would you be able to fight this monster on your own. Dammit! You flicked your eyes over at V, noticing the return of yet another tattoo. One more to go then.

You shifted and gasped, quickly throwing yourself back and shrinking against the wall as much as you could. Stupid! Your foot accidentally knocked over a rock, catching the unwanted attention of the demon below.

“Who’s there? An intruder perhaps?”

The unsteady gait of the demon was loud, ominous as it stalked over towards you. 

“I’m coomiingg…” It cooed menacingly. How delightful, an intruder this far down the Qliphoth? It had to be one of those Devil Hunters. Malphas was pleased, she was itching to _play._

_’No! I can’t fight now!’_

You wracked your brain for any ideas that could get you out of this…but you were coming up empty.

…you were doomed. 

You closed your eyes.

**BANG!**

Shots rang in the air, and you grinned when you heard a familiar voice taunting the demon.

“Gotta pay attention sweetheart. I’m over here!”

Nero!

“Sparda’s kin…” Malphas looked at him derisively, “But you’re nothing but an empty shell without demon power. You’re as weak as your human flesh.”

“Hey, give us humans a chance here, you might find yourself surprised.”

You pulled yourself back to V’s side and let Nero do what he did best. Thank god that bastard always had great timing! 

Nero smirked and provoked the demon about its godawful smell. Time to take out the trash! He charged up the Red Queen and sprinted in, making sure that his attacks exploded right in that ugly chicken’s face. The demon sputtered and staggered around blindly, trying to stomp Nero to death in vain. It screeched as its vision cleared. 

“Man – that’s one ugly assed bird.” Nero waved a hand in front of his face and grimaced. “Ugh, how about some breath mints there buddy?”

Malphas gestured her arms, drawing in her magic. “I will show you the might of the greatest sorceress of the Underworld.” She threw her arms forward, her magic pulling sharp crystalized spikes from the ground beneath Nero.

He jerked to the side, just barely missing being skewered in every direction. Although he clicked his tongue in annoyance at seeing that the attack got the ends of his coat. Dammit! That was a gift from Kyrie too!

Rushing forward again, he kick-flipped the underside of the demon’s double chins, stunning the chicken as Malphas tried to urge it back on its feet. “Heh, lemme show you how humans take care of business!” He ejected the Punchline right in her face and immediately followed up with a flurry of strikes; the last slash taking her heads clean off.

The demon vanished in a high pitched screech. Nero dug a pinky into his ear and winced. What was it with the female demons and their annoying voices? He looked up to the chamber where he sensed V and you. “Yo! You guys can come out now!”

He grinned when your head popped over the ledge.

“Great timing! I’m gonna need your help here!” You waved him up.

**\--------**

When V finally stirred, he found his eyes were hazy and pained as he waited for his vision to clear. “____?” His voice was soft, hoarse. Please, don’t let him wake up alone.

“V!” 

V had never felt so relieved to hear your voice.

“Heh, looks who’s finally awake.”

Nero?

V tried to shake the confusion from his head, needing his mind to be clear and alert. He gradually realized that he was suspended between the two of you; both of you carrying him to Urizen. How – his senses flared hotly, clanging in his head that Urizen was not that much farther now.

How long – how far did you and Nero carry him?

He wanted to weep, it was a kindness that he never – to just be _carried_ by those who cared about him enough to so. To be supported at his weakest moment…his chest tightened in gratitude.

“I have to – I have to confess…the truth…to the both of you….”

“V please just save your strength.” You said quietly.

“No, you must know…Urizen’s origins…” He grimaced and coughed harshly.

V slowly recalled the entire chain of events to the two of you. Vergil and Dante locked in an eternal and bitter rivalry, stemming from a moment long ago when demons attacked their home. Vergil, broken and plagued with rage and nightmares, resorted to a despicable act…by taking the arm of Nero, the arm that housed the Yamato. The searing pain that led to Urizen’s emergence, the devil that housed only Vergil’s greed for more power. And also…

You were silent in shock as V revealed to you the final truth of his condition.

A mad man – driven insane by pain and jealousy, rage and bitterness, _deluded_ \- split himself in twain; to become the demon king Urizen…and the other, the discarded humanity who fashioned himself a new identity and who was wracked with guilt for the sins of his incarnation. The man who sought to right the wrongs of his former self. The man you hopelessly fell for.

“So you see now, at the end of the day, endless greed for power is the cause of all this. I am so sorry but you must let me pay the price for my foolishness, my atonement.” There was a stern finality in his tone. There was no changing his mind, not even you would be able to change it.

“So Vergil – he’s Dante’s brother? He’s the one behind all this – his own flesh and blood –“ Nero’s mind stuttered, making connections faster than he was able to comprehend. V _was_ half of Vergil? His mind was telling him that this detail was extremely important. But his thoughts were whirling too fast for him to make heads or tails out of it.

“That’s right kid – which is why I need to be the one to finish this.”

Dante was there, gazing solemnly at the three of you. His face unreadable and stern like a mountain. Although his eyes flicked back and forth between V and Nero constantly.

“Go home Nero, this doesn’t concern you anymore. Same for you V, this is my gig and I plan on finishing it."

Nero dropped V, forcing you to take his entire weight as he stormed over to Dante, face twisted in fury. “Like hell! I lost my fucking arm to him!”

“You don’t get it!” Dante whirled around, angry at the stubbornness of this boy. Dante wanted to do right by Nero, he wished that the boy would just shut up and listen for once!

“Why because I’m deadweight!? I’ll show you-“ Nero started angrily, flexing his Devil Breaker arm for emphasis.

“HE’S YOUR FATHER!” Dante cried out, frustrated beyond belief.

There was a deafening silence.

“He’s your father.” Dante said quietly, resting a heavy hand on Nero’s shaking shoulders. “I had a hunch but when I saw how the Yamato reacted, I knew for sure. Vergil is your father – and what he did was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen him do. Now, he needs an ass-kicking but, I can’t have you go kill what’s left of your old man.”

Nero turned to look V, face pained and confused. “…my father..?” He took a step forward but stopped. “I –I don’t…what?” His voice was small, anguish and disbelief twisting his face.

V _was_ half of Vergil – the human half. And Urizen was the demon half. Those facts bounced around in Nero’s head in a dizzying whirlwind. Over and over.

V was Vergil. Vergil was _his_ father.

V was his father?

“…Nero…is my son?” He asked quietly, eyes never leaving Nero’s.

“Yeah.” Dante replied just as quietly, taking his leave now so that father and son could have a moment before the final confrontation. “I’ll be waiting just up ahead. Don’t take too long.” He knew they would follow anyways, they wouldn't back down. Not after this little bombshell. Dante was pained as well, having learned now that there was a sliver of Vergil's humanity here this whole time. He had so many things to say - but he will wait his turn. Nero needed this more than he did.

You saw the distress in both their faces as they locked eyes, trying to trace the resemblance in each other. V was just as stunned as Nero was about that revelation Dante dropped unceremoniously on their heads.

Nero had gone from not knowing his family and now…to know that his own father was the reason for this…no the demonic half of his father was responsible for this. He gazed at the human half, brought to his knees by the conclusions Dante came to and weakened beyond saving by the fading strength of his body. Nero strode over to him on instinct, the man looked so pitiful.

His fist clenched at his side and then…

Nero gingerly lifted V’s free arm and looped it across his own shoulders, helping you carry him again. His jaw was tightly set, but his eyes were shining and teary.

“Nero…” V murmured, wishing he could say more.

Wishing for more time.

Nero grunted. “Just shut up and let’s get to the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, next chapter is the end of Arc 2.  
> Thank you as always for stopping by, leave me a line (or not no pressure!) on how this is going for you guys. I do love to know how to improve for you all :3


	17. Swear to My Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter and soundtrack that started it all. I hope the feelings I was trying to convey reaches you.  
> [Persona 5 – Swear to my bones] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xHQ7qfT7q0  
> [Devil May Cry 5 – Legacy] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnvruIkuhRw  
> Edited 07.29.19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When those voices deep within  
> Bring you down to your knees again,  
> Redemption calls onto  
> All of those who persist  
> With the strength of the few.  
> Don't come to question  
> All that you've known.  
> Remember, you are not alone.  
> I will be here,  
> Standing beside you.  
> There is no mountain  
> Too tall to overcome.  
> We will be as one.  
> You will rise again... This is your legacy!  
> (Devil May Cry 5 - Legacy)

### Swear to My Bones

**Flashback----**

Howls and roars echoed in the air, rattling his bones and chilling him down to his very soul. Outside he heard dark guttural voices, _hungry_ voices calling for the extermination of Sparda and his spawn. Explosions rocked the house on its foundations. He bit back a whimper of fear as parts of the roof and walls began to collapse around him.

What was happening? Why were they being attacked?

His questions died on his lips as his mother hurriedly led him into a closet. Her eyes kept darting from him to the windows, her face set in clear worry and fear. Dante shrank to the back of the closet as far as he could, thinking that his mother will follow in after him. However she grasped unsteadily at the doors, eyes lingering over him.

“You need to hide Dante, you mustn’t leave, no matter what!” Eva’s face was set in determination, her eyes shining from unshed tears as she urged the young boy to listen to her.

“I need to find Vergil, I promise I’ll be back.” She glanced to the side again, hearing the demons approach closer. The screams of the villagers down the path rang into the night. She could see blooms of fire rising in the sky. She had to hurry, oh where was Vergil!?

Dante was about to protest, about to climb back out to insist in helping. He couldn’t leave Vergil either! But she gently cupped his face with both hands and shushed him.

“I know this is hard. But you must listen to me.” Her eyes bore into his, trying to etch his features into her memory. Eva wasn’t sure if this would be the last time she would ever see her beautiful boy again. “Be a big boy, a man, huh?” She did her best to reassure him, even as she nudged him back into the closet.

Her lips curved into a watery smile. “If I don’t return, you must run, by yourself. Alone. You must change your name, forget your past. Become someone else – start a new life.” Eva held back her sobs as Dante stared fearfully at her, but her brave boy nodded solemnly, tears tracking down his cheeks.

“A new beginning.” She said softly, shutting the doors on Dante. She gave him one last longing look before turning on her heel, crying out for Vergil. Please! Don’t let her be too late for her other beloved son! 

Dante heard her rapidly departing footsteps. He cradled himself as the closet shook violently from another explosion. He bit his lips hard, trying to keep quiet even though he could hear his mother screaming desperately for Vergil.

“Vergil!? Vergil! Where are you!?”

Her screams rang in his ears.

**End Flashback----**

Dante waited by the final tunnel that would take everyone down to the chamber of the Fruit. “You ready?”

“…Yes, let’s finish this, Dante.” V’s face was impassive, but his deep set eyes were resolute, immovable. 

The hunter smirked fondly, he wondered how he didn’t see it before. Even with the gothic makeover, that was all Vergil’s mannerisms through and through. Dante huffed in amusement and jumped in. Nero nodded at you and the two of you carefully followed suit, taking care not to jostle V too much. You and Nero made sure to take the brunt of the landing.

You glanced around, not expecting to see a clear, sunny day. A sweet smelling gentle breeze ruffled the grass beneath your feet. A large, well tread dirt path wound towards a familiar manor in the distance. 

What was this place?

Dante whistled, examining everything that he could see. “Right back to where it all started.” He slowed to a stop and turned around to look straight at V. He could see the troubled look on the summoner’s face. “Yup, this is where it happened. Where mom saved me…and left you behind.” 

A dark and pained look flashed across V’s face. That pang of that dreadful memory that never seemed to go away blazed in the depths of his heart as fury. Why was Dante bringing this up now? Was this Dante’s way of punishing him for his grave error with Urizen? His lip curled into a slight snarl, if this was Dante’s game then -

Dante quickly strode up to him, staring down intently at V. “But what you didn’t know…” His fists clenched at his side, seeing clearly now in V’s eyes how much pain and loneliness festered in his brother’s heart all those years. All from that single moment of misunderstanding. “She looked for you. She kept searching until it killed her.”

The hunter licked his dry lips and stared nervously at V. The poet had been hit with so many revelations so quickly already. Had that been too much? Dante wondered if maybe he should have kept quiet – but Vergil, er V needed to understand what truly happened that day. He wanted to give his brother that closure; to heal the seemingly impassable breach that separated them for so long. He was so exhausted of fighting him, and from carrying the bitter rivalry with Vergil that consumed him for far too many years. And seeing V; who embraced his humanity and carried Vergil’s regrets and vulnerabilities; Dante was beginning to understand the complex man that was Vergil – he could read now, how hard the toll of their struggles had taken on the elder twin as well.

V needed this closure more than Dante.

V made a motion for you and Nero to step back. You bit your lip in worry and shared a concerned look with Nero but complied with his silent request. 

“I see.” Despite the failing body, V quickly pulled the shattered remains of the Rebellion from Dante’s side. His cracked hand gripped the hilt tightly, knuckles turning white. “I wonder if the roles had been reversed…would you have had my life…and I yours?” He struck Dante hard in the chest with Rebellion with a pained smirk. 

“Are you crazy!?”

“V! What the hell!?”

Dante staggered back, stunned. V leaned heavily on his cane as he watched the younger twin double over and begin to glow in tandem with the awakened Devil Sword Sparda that was strapped to his back. You and Nero watched stunned as Dante’s body absorbed both the Rebellion _and_ the Sparda. In a flash of demonic energy, Dante transformed to his Devil Trigger form…only…this form was _much more_ different.

“I guess we’ll never know…brother.” V murmured softly. “But I consider us even now.” There was a hint of that familiar smugness in his hoarse voice, that made Dante chuckle.

Dante flexed his clawed hand experimentally, feeling the power of the Devil Sword Sparda surging to his call. “Geez, two for two with the Rebellion from you. Warn a guy next time, wouldya?” His voice was gravelly, but you could hear the underlying playful tone in it.

Idiots.

You snuck a peek at Nero who looked torn between incredulity and annoyance. “And this is _your_ family Nero.”

“Tch. I’m starting to regret it already.” Nero wondered and hoped that insanity didn’t run in the family. He settled for face palming in exasperation.

“Alright then, I’m off to see kick some demon ass. Better hurry your asses up if you want prime seats for the show.” Dante flicked his wings out and rocketed off towards the manor. He could see it now, a large tree had appeared, arching in the driveway. A single, poisonous looking Fruit glistened from one of the branches. And beneath it…gazing at it in rapt fascination…

“Urizen.” _Not Vergil._ This was just simply another ugly demon, filled with greed and lust for a fleeting intangible thing.

“This extraordinary Fruit was all I have ever wanted.” The demon reached to pluck it from its branch. Eyes staring covetously at it. It beat like a heart in his claw; pulsing with pure **power**. And this fruit shall answer all his desires…he will ascend to Godhood and no longer be burdened by the notion of _weakness._ He was no longer the pitiful half-breed that had barely been able to cling to life long enough to steal the Yamato to tear asunder his soul. 

Now, he was simply… **Power Incarnate**.

The Fruit burst into his mouth, filling his veins with an electrifying sensation that went beyond mere ecstasy. The vine like appendages that had fueled him with blood and connected him to the Qliphoth, began to crumble off his body, revealing the powerful, demonic lithe form beneath. The many eyes over his body began to open and glare menacingly at Dante, who approached him in his Sin Devil Trigger form.

Shit too late! Dante cursed to himself, readying his sword. “Can’t say I like your new look that much – but maybe I can improve it for ya!” Dante used his demonic powers to sweep up into the sky before folding his wings in to dive straight at Urizen.

Urizen simply batted Dante out of the sky. “Allow me to enlighten you, Dante, on how pitiful you are.” He flexed his claw and bursts of energy missiles shot from his numerous eyes. 

Dante reflexively closed his wings around himself, allowing the projectiles to bounce harmlessly off of him. Maybe he should mix it up, as powerful as this form was, it was incredibly draining to stay in this form. He dispelled the Sin Devil Trigger and reverted back to his human form. Although the new Devil Sword he acquired retained its upgraded stage. 

Urizen’s numerous eyes narrowed at him hatefully. “You dare approach me in that form?” He sneered, moving to crush the man like the insect he was.

“Heh – you’ve seen yourself lately?” Dante taunted, sprinting to slash at the demon’s legs. He rolled underneath the behemoth and stabbed at the giant eyes on the back of his calves. 

Urizen howled in pain and turned to sweep his powerful legs at Dante, catching the man in the stomach to kick him away. Dante grunted as he tumbled over and over until he was able to roll into a crouching position. He wiped the blood away from his lips and grinned ferally. “Tch – that really all ya got?”

The three of you watched from a healthy distance, praying that Dante had enough strength to bring down the mad demon king. 

“…You sure there’s nothing that you can do?” Nero asked quietly.

“…Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age. No Nero, I am afraid not.”

Thoughts and half assed ideas swirled over and over tumultuously in your mind. But as each idea popped in your head, you immediately discarded as too improbable or too risky. What you needed was…something to anchor V to this plane until a more permanent solution could be found. 

But what could you do? You barely had a handle on your powers, you know nothing about the laws that governed this world and you had absolutely no bloody idea how to even go about saving V! You didn’t even know what V intended to do as his ‘atonement’ for Urizen’s insane pursuit of the Qliphoth Fruit. All you had was a vague inkling that V intended to take himself and Urizen out of the picture…for good. 

How would you even begin to subvert the fate that V seemed determined to chase?

 _’Even at the end when it matters…I am useless…’_ You despaired and cursed in turns, wishing for another way for this to end.

Urizen toppled beneath Dante’s blade. 

This was the end.

Everyone gathered close one last time, feeling physically and mentally spent but trying to prolong the inevitable for those final moments.

Then…

All too soon, V was leaving your side to his final destiny.

“Please ____, you must let me go. There is no more time left for us.”

His voice was somber, quietly pleading. Please do not think of him as cruel for leaving. There was no choice, he must atone.

This was the only path left.

You held back your tears and pulled him to you, clinging to him tightly. His arms wrapped around you, trying to grant you this last measure of comfort.

One last desperate, desperate kiss. There is no more time for more. 

You had to be satisfied with what you were able to get.

…You had to be…

Everyone was watching with bated breath as V struggled towards Urizen. His face a mask of resignation and cold amusement even as he was breathing harshly from the exertion. 

“In the last throes of defeat I see.”

How the mighty have fallen.

“Do not struggle. For if you can’t even defeat me, then you’ve already lost.”

“I will not…lose. Not to Dante, and not to you. I need power!” The demon growled lowly. Humiliation and defiance colored his angry voice. It cannot end like this!

“I know. We are one and the same you and I. But you’ve lost me, and I’ve lost you. Yet we are connected by that one feeling.” V raised his cane, “While thy branches mix with mine and our roots together join…”

V struck, just as many times as he has done before, only this will be the last time he will ever raise his weapon, his last moments as the man known as V. Urizen roared in defiance even as the tip of the cane began to pierce through him. Please, V thought tiredly, please let’s end this…no more struggling…let us leave quietly…never to plague the world again…

Your eyes were locked on V, etching him into your memory; the look of determination on his face, the lines of his slender figure, the way he stood poised over the hulking behemoth – proud and brittle. Heart bursting that this will be the last time you’ll ever see him again. 

There were so many words left to say still, so many moments you’ll never be able to share with each other… _it wasn’t fair!_

Your heart shuddered to a stop.

The resulting shockwave of energy knocked you off your feet. You grunted, finding that you had landed on your wrist oddly. Everything was pulsating around you, the world was wavering before your eyes. The sky cracked and began to shatter, falling to pieces around you like a broken mirror. The ground beneath you felt strange, intangible. This was it…

The world was falling apart around you.

This was the end for you too…the energy that resulted from the destruction of the two discarded halves of Vergil would tear open a portal home for you. In a few moments, this world will melt away… and… 

You’ll both be leaving each other behind, you'll be left with only the ghosts of the memories you made together to get by…

You wished…you wished….

_’I wish it didn’t have to end this way...’_

The world trembled beneath you. The tree began to crumble all around you, rocking violently.

Something was wrong…so very wrong…

“I REFUSE!” Came Urizen’s angry declaration, “I shall NOT return to that pathetic halfblooded shell of my former self. I am my OWN entity – I am destined to become a god!”

Your screams rang in the air.

The mad demon gripped V in a large hand and flung him in the farthest corner of the battle field. The broken man landed with a quiet and lifeless thump. Everyone watched, struck in horror as the demon summoned the Yamato back to his side and absorbed it back into himself.

No, no, NO! This can’t be happening!

Nero and Dante were scrambling to their feet, already sprinting with everything they had to finish the job. They could not allow Urizen to escape! But the demon swept them back, flicked a claw and opened a portal to slip through, out of sight, out of reach.

“Dammit! Come back here bastard!” 

“We can’t stay here anymore! WE HAVE TO GO!”

You sobbed and unsteadily pulled yourself back on your feet. “I can’t leave him!” You had reached your breaking point – there was no thought of the danger you were willingly running to. No concern of the fact that you lost your chance to return home. No…only V…V filled your thoughts. 

**You won’t leave him! Not like this!**

There were hands grasping at you, you struggled and pulled away with all your might. You can’t leave him! V! You snarled and yanked yourself free, NO!

“Don’t you stop me! If you want to leave then fine, but I’m not leaving V here!”” You cried angrily.

“Come back here idiot! You’re going to get killed! You’ll fucking die if you stay here!”

There was another violent tremor. You stumbled forward, narrowly missing the large pile of Qliphoth rubble that crashed from above, landing squarely between you and the two hunters. You kept your eyes on V, struggling to keep your balance as you limped across the battlefield to him; ignoring the pleas for you to turn back.

“Idiot! Come back ___!”

“There’s no more time Nero – we need to leave!” Dammit – why were you all so stupid and stubborn!

“You’re just gonna leave her there!?” Nero raged at Dante, unable to swallow the thought of losing yet another member of his ragtag family. Credo, V...you...

“We have no choice!” He shook the boy hard, gripping the collar of his jacket and trying to drag him out with all his might, his face pained. “The only thing we can do now is hope the dice rolls in her odds.”

The tree trembled again, more debris collapsed behind you, barricading you completely in the chamber. You heard the cries and arguing of your friends from the other side; come back, come back you idiot! Nero screamed in frustration from the other side, pulling free from Dante's grip to punch repeatedly at the rubble that separated him from you and V… _his family_. His lips were curled back in anguish and anger.

 _’I couldn't protect Credo. To this day, I hate myself for not having enough strength. But this time is different. I swear….’_ “I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!”

There was a flash of blue and Dante watched, stunned as Nero – in a perfect Devil Trigger form burst through the barrier after you.

Tsk. “Can’t be helped, looks like we all have a hero complex. Heh.” Dante transformed and flew after Nero.

 _’V…V…’_ Please, you begged to whatever deity was kind enough to listen, just a little longer! Let him hold on just a little longer!

Your foot slipped and you scraped your hands and knees trying to brace yourself. The tremors were stronger and closer together now. You were running out of time…

You didn’t want this to be the end.

_’It’s not fair!’_

A large petrified root hit you squarely in the back, knocking you down and momentarily stunning you. You tasted grit and blood in your mouth.

_’I made a promise to you V…back in Limbus…I swore with everything I am that I wouldn’t let you die!’_

“Please Eos…give me a little more strength…” You gasped as a searing hot pain raced from your shoulders and down your back and your propped yourself back up. Your back felt wet and hot with blood. You tasted the salt from your tears and ash from the crumbling Qliphoth. “I-I have to keep my promise to him!” You cried out to the skies as you forced yourself back on your feet.

_’Please…V…don’t…don’t leave…me alone…’_

_’I can’t – a world where you’re not with me…I can’t live that way…’_

You were losing so much time trying to keep your balance, trying to dodge the collapsing world around you. But you were determined to make it to his side, whatever it takes. You coughed as you choked down the dust falling around you. The debris coated your throat and lungs, leaving your eyes feeling gritty. Your body ached from the relentless debris that pelted you from every direction.

Gentle blue flames flickered feebly around you, your Persona was so exhausted.

You were so exhausted.

Just a little further.

_’Please hold on!’_

Your heart bled and cried at the thought of the absence of his rich and husky voice, of missing the warmth from his body, no longer seeing the gentle glimmer that flared in his eyes when he looked at you, bereft of the feeling of complete wholeness and contentment for the rest of your short life…what were you supposed to do without the one you loved above all else? Without him, life will become empty and hollow…meaningless…joyless.

So you struggled on.

A rumble above you, and you looked up, frozen. A large section of the tree was falling straight for you – but you couldn’t move. Nightmare materialized above you, hunched over you protectively, shielding you from certain death. You stared at him wide-eye, how-? The gentle giant nudged at you to keep moving, urging you to V. You scrambled from the cocoon of his arms and watched tearfully as he dissolved into the ground. 

And then the ground accelerated beneath you, Shadow was skimming you across the last leg of the journey, as far as he could go before he too depleted himself. You felt a sensation of gratitude from him, for going to his master’s side in his final moments.

“Heya doll-face, you got a death wish?” Griffon chuckled tiredly, already dissolving back into the nothingness that awaited him. “Better hurry ____, there’s no time left…”

You crawled over to V’s side, grasping at his hand tightly. Your breath hitched - 

It was like holding air.

“V…” You sobbed, seeing your tears dripping through him. 

You read the lines of exhaustion and pain in his cracking face as he struggled to open his eyes to see you one last time.

Was this really the end?

Was there nothing you could do now except to watch him fade away from existence?

“It’s not fair!” You sobbed harder, vision blurring.

His eyes were hazy, tiredly half open, a myriad of emotions and unspoken words flickering in their depths for you to see. 

Happiness…

Sadness…

Regret…

Gratitude…

He was fading away, translucent now. 

…Like an Ephemeral Dream. 

V knew the moment he had failed. Felt the moment when Urizen rejected his strongest desire to bring the fractured souls back together as Vergil. He felt bitter and cheated, weak even to the very end. The half that lived and breathed for power robbed him of even this small bit of closure…In those last moments, his thoughts briefly turned to anger. If only…if only…he swallowed heavily, unable to bring himself to blame you, the strange variable that appeared in his brief miserable life, upended all his carefully laid plans and irrevocably changed his life.

His bond with you made dying so much more painful and poignant because he wanted to live…

If he never met you, this ignoble end would have been more bearable – if you had never given him a reason to desire more for himself…perhaps that small selfish part of him wouldn’t have hesitated at the end; the desire to return as Vergil might have overcome even Urizen’s greed…he could have ended it all…

Oh but who was he trying to fool?

His mistakes, his weaknesses were not yours – your only flaw was that you chose, despite all common sense, to love him. It humbled him, this castoff of a mad man who thought of his humanity as a weakness. As trash.

He was grateful…you gave him what he had always yearned for – and to have had you in the time he was allotted…

No, he could never blame you for giving him yourself.

Because he knew the truth. Even down to his shattered self, you were the best part of him, the best thing that had ever happened to him. At that final moment, all he could think about was **you.**

V would never, **ever** regret you, the few moments the universe had afforded him with you…it was enough. It had to be.

It only fate had been kinder to the two of you…

V wondered if it was possible for the meager splinter of his soul to be reborn and reunited with you…

How he wished he had enough strength to wipe away your grief right now.

 **I love you ____.** His lips silently mouthed to you. He could feel his heartbeat growing fainter and fainter now. Please, gods let him at least convey his feelings to you one more time.

Your tears were blurring everything as you brought his hand to your lips, “And I love you V. There will be no other for me…never.” You said fiercely through your tears.

But please – wasn’t there anything you could do!? If all V needed was a complete soul...If you could...Everything up til now…you didn’t want it to end, to be in vain! 

One last gamble…

…Or you will die trying.

You had no more options left.

You summoned your Persona, eyes flashing that otherworldly gold as blue flames flickered to life around you. You felt your Persona stir as you struggled to pull your soul to the surface. Please – please Eos say something!

**It could be done…but I do not know what the consequences will be.**

Your heart was beating faster in your chest. You made a promise long ago, that you would not let him die. You pulled taut the bond that connected you to V, wrapping that promise around it. _’I’ll do it, I don’t care – I’ll do it!’_

Desperation and grief warred in you – the strong connection and feelings you nurtured for V swelled painfully in your heart -

There was a long pause, a heavy silence as your Persona weighed your determination.

**Then it will be done. To protect your bond, I will lend you my power.**

Your Persona took your resolve and then…

Pain…a splitting, excruciating pain from deep in the intangible part of your soul where your Persona lay. You bit the inside of your cheek, tasting the coppery tang of blood. The tears were flowing freely down your face. God – it **hurt** like nothing you have ever felt before!

 _’If there’s anyone left to listen to me, anyone that is here to hear my wish…’_ You poured everything you could into the bond with V, using it as a seal for the soul that your Persona was forcefully ripping to shreds, to bind them all to V. It was an agony you could not describe, the severing of your vital self in exchange to save V’s life and solidify his existence to this plane.

You fought against the waves of nausea and despair rising in you. Focus! The agony was overwhelming, your vision was growing darker now. But you mustn’t break this connection! You could hardly see him anymore, engulfed completely in ghostly blue flames. Please!

**Say the words child…**

The pull from your soul was past excruciating now. 

_’Please, he’s lost so much already…don’t let him lose this too…’_

You pulled his hand to your heart and closed your eyes, letting the flames flicker higher than ever around the two of you. A sweet scent rushed around you, caresses softer than the gentlest of kisses, a Presence more loving than anything you’ve imagined.

V closed his eyes tight against the sudden flare of light. His energy fading too fast for him to shield his eyes from the light that hovered over him, as if the blazing sun had descended down to him. The words – his last words to you caught in his throat. A pain – like being cauterized from the inside seared through him, stealing away his breath and comprehension. 

“I am in you…and you in me, mutual in divine love…” You whispered through bloodied lips. _’I swear to you…V…everything that I am, is yours…always yours…’_

Let this work! You begged desperately as the world was crumbling around you. You could feel the soul now rapidly locking into place, streaks of ether flowing freely from you and into him. You felt yourself growing weaker…

Your voice was garbled to his ears. Everything was blurring together.

Was this what the end was supposed to be like?

It was a chaotic storm of warmth, your scent and presence wrapping tightly, lovingly around him. Cocooning him in the arms of the one he loved most…

He never felt so whole.

One final explosion of blue flames.

V swore in those last delirious moments, overcome by pain and euphoria -

You wore wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the End loves.
> 
>  
> 
> Just kidding. This is just the end of Arc 2. You didn't think I've put the two of you through all that for that to be it did you? There's still a lot more to go through...and I'm a sucker for happy endings too.
> 
> On another note, I will plot over Arc 3, work on Interludes, and then drive myself crazy preparing for my first year of pharmacy school. (Ugh kiddos, being a non-traditional student is a bitch). 
> 
> Much love to you all, I hope to see you back again. Thank you as always for indulging me with this.


	18. The Tempest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following scene was planned for later chapters, but well…this scene was insistent on being placed now instead of later. Growing pains – inconvenient and messy but sometimes necessary. You will work it out. I believe in you.

### The Tempest

Snippets of things raced in his mind.

Excruciating pain.

The stench of failure and regret.

Resignation and gratitude.

Flashes of a familiar scent and presence wrapping tightly around him.

His eyes fluttered, opening once before wincing back shut from the sudden flood of light that seared his retinas.

Ow.

Okay. Try again.

He slowly breathed through his nose, then slowly, ever so slowly cracked his eyes open again.

Daylight filtered through his senses. Awareness snapped back into place as he let himself adjust to the brightness. He was stretched out on something soft. A bed? His breathing quickened from his awakening. He felt a little lightheaded.

V continued in his systematic assessment of himself.

Heartbeat? Check.

Sensation of self? Well, he could feel his toes wriggling and his fingers splayed on the coarse fabric beneath him. Check.

His sight was fine. He could clearly see the dust floating lazily above him now. Someone should think about cleaning the lint off the ceiling fan though. Just being aware of it made his nose itch.

Oh yes, and he saw that blue butterfly fluttering above him too.

… …

Wait…

Butterfly?

He groaned and lifted a heavy hand to rub at his eyes. His body felt like he had been sleeping like the dead for a long time. But more importantly, he might be in trouble if he was experiencing visual hallucinations.

He blinked again – letting his eyes briefly cross before allowing his vision to adjust. No butterflies this time. But –

“V!”

Arms engulfed him, a warm, familiar presence nearly suffocating him. The sweetest voice ringing in his ears, clearer than a bell. V’s arms instinctively returned the enthusiastic embrace tightly. Nose buried into a soft cloud of hair, recognizing the scent. The feeling of returning home fluttering in his chest made his breath hitch.

“____.” He rumbled, voice a little hoarse.

How?

He _died._

You pulled away. He tilted his head to the side a little to scrutinize you, as you hovered over him. There was a sheepish look on your face, most likely from just realizing now that you might have been a little overeager in greeting him.

V didn’t mind, knowing that you missed him so much to garner such a reaction from you – it made his lips quirk upwards. 

“Sorry.” You whispered, shyly.

“____.” He repeated again, a hand reaching to cup your face. 

This can’t be possibly real…and yet…just to be sure…

He tugged you down to him, lips searching hungrily for yours. He heard you yelp a little in surprise before surrendering to his kiss. Your hands moved to tangle in his hair, you sighed so softly in contentment against his lips. His heart beat wildly, it felt full and ready to burst. 

It had to be real.

But then that would mean…

V broke the kiss and began pushing the covers off him. Your hands were soft and warm as you helped him sit up.

“V, you just woke up. Take it easy.”

“I’m alright.” He assured.

The bed dipped slightly as you moved to sit beside him, eyes flicking all over him as if to convince yourself that you weren’t dreaming either.

“I thought that you would never wake up.” You told him softly, your lips turning down into a worried frown. 

He saw the exhaustion in your face, the way your eyes drooped sleepily and the way you had to shake yourself awake now and again. You looked thinner than he remembered – the sunlight seemed to only make you look even more wan. The dark circles under your eyes looked like bruises. Had you not been resting at all?

“Tell me what happened.” He urged gently.

Questions burned impatiently in his mind. V could only recall bits and pieces. The final confrontation with Urizen – Gods how had that gone so terribly wrong? His crumbling body fading away from existence. A deep seated pain and euphoria before he lost consciousness and presumably died.

You picked at the loose threads of the blanket and sheets.

“Urizen was badly wounded but he used the Yamato to escape. The Qliphoth was collapsing, and then all I could remember was trying to get to you as fast as I could. I didn’t want you to be alone in those last moments…And I – I couldn’t just leave you there…” You trailed off, a hand reaching to grip his tightly as you relived those memories.

So he didn’t imagine that. The memory of you shedding tears over him, grief clear across your face needled at him. He closed his eyes briefly, seeing it clearly now in his mind’s eye. Another whisper of a memory floated to his mind. A thought began to take root, something he needed you to confirm. 

“___, how did I survive?” _’I was dying. It’s not possible for me to still be here and yet here I am…Oh no…what have you done?’_

You worried your bottom lip, and then hesitatingly recounted what you could. You had a strange sense of foreboding, as if this tale might just make something snap.

He listened with a growing sense of horror; chill seeping into his bones; as you clumsily tried to explain exactly how you saved him. You made a different Resolution in your heart. Somehow breaking the metaphysical laws that governed souls, you found a way to tether V’s existence to the physical world using pieces of your own soul. And then V felt it, the pulse of a more complete soul residing within him, confirming your story. That gnawing emptiness that had been kept at bay temporarily by the absorption of magic – was now partially filled by You. The pain of an incomplete soul was still there, but it was buffered by the pieces you’ve given up, residing in him. 

V’s mind flashed back to that final moment. There was a tempest of emotions that whirled in his head and heart. You had given him more time – _but at an unacceptable risk and cost to yourself._ V felt a strong urge to shake sense into you that overwhelmed his gratitude – how – 

“How could you do something so stupid!” He exclaimed, grasping your shoulders. You were so foolish! To shorten your own lifespan for someone that was merely the discarded, unwanted remains of a mad man. It made the turmoil he was feeling that much greater. He **could have lost you** for good! That anger and grief crept into his voice.

“What – what are you talking about? I found a way to give you more time –“

“You were reckless and selfish, that’s what you were. My life is _not_ worth yours – I was ready to die!”

“Bullshit! You were afraid of dying just like the rest of us. I wanted to give you a second chance and I did – I thought…you’d be happy.” Confusion and hurt had you frowning heavily at him.

So many thoughts churned in his head, it was a matter of which one reached his mouth first. “What if it had gone wrong – what if it went wrong the way it did with Urizen? And if you had died, would you leave me with your death and misguided sacrifice to hang over my conscience?” And he already had so much hanging over him already, a heavy burden that he didn’t want to make any heavier with the loss of you. But you hadn’t given him a choice – you made this decision without him.

“I didn’t think – “

“Yes – you **didn’t** think at all. You were impossibly reckless!” The words tumbled rapidly from him now, V wasn’t even sure if he was making any sense anymore, “You’ve been lucky so far, but a fool’s luck will eventually run out – and I will not be left as the guilty survivor again!” V could barely struggle beneath the weight of his mother’s sacrifice, and the nightmare of being left behind again, by you…it made him impossibly angry that you would have put him through that pain again if your gamble failed.

He couldn’t go through that again. It _broke_ Vergil, made him a brittle man. 

“I can’t believe this. I am not going to let you make me feel bad for what I thought was right. I made that decision because you were important enough to me.” Your words came out sharper, defensive. _’I’m not a little kid that did something bad!’_

A derisive scoff. “Important? Don’t be so naïve, you simply clung to the strongest attachment you ever had because it was your first and it had to take the world to end for you to even do that.”

“Don’t be such a hypocrite V! You’re not blameless here either, you encouraged my feelings too, I went into this with the understanding that we had something mutual – something special. We said no regrets!”

“It was special because we were both going to die regardless!”

The two of you were breathing harsher now, both of you unable to reign in your tempers any longer.

“So that’s it then? That’s the reason why you let me invest so much of myself, it was because we were going to die? You’re the one who’s selfish then – was that your plan all along? Just string me along and then conveniently die so I’d have to deal with it by myself?”

“You weren’t going to anyways because they were going to execute you when you were sent back home!”

“… _What?_ ”

The sudden turn of the conversation unbalanced you both.

“No – you weren’t…you weren’t supposed to know that.” No, NO! V tried to backtrack. He hadn’t meant to reveal that.

“Know **what**?” 

He stayed silent.

You were practically snarling now as you got off the bed, hands fisted on your hips, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. The two of you didn’t seem to notice the tears glistening on your eyelashes or the way your voice wavered.

“I am getting so sick of everyone thinking they can do whatever the fuck they want with me and hiding things that I should know - “

“I did it to protect you.” His voice deepened to a growl of annoyance. Now you were going to question his motives in keeping you safe? You knew him better than that!

“And that’s working out so well isn’t it? Well then thank you ever so much V for being so concerned with my well-being and simultaneously stomping all over my heart.” Your voice was frosty as you crossed your arms.

“You’re willfully misunderstanding me now –“ How had this conversation gotten so de-railed?

You turned on your heel, you were feeling a strange detachment and vertigo all of a sudden. Blood rushed in your ears, like waves crashing on the shore. There was too much fight and flight surging in your veins and you thought perhaps escape would be the better option. 

“No – I’m not doing this. I can’t take it now.”

“Come back, we’re not finished talking.” Wait! Let him explain himself!

“Oh - **yes** we are!”

“You’re being childish!”

“Yeah? Well how’s this for childish? Fuck. You.” A sneer twisted your lips.

The door slammed behind you, the walls rattled hard and the silence in the aftermath was deafening. V felt himself flush hotly in anger; at you, at himself and at how the situation escalated so quickly. That was not how he wanted any of that to go at all.

He scrubbed at his face and groaned, feeling remorse starting to prickle at him. His mind traced back the entire situation that led up to this, trying to pinpoint where you had begun to misunderstand him. Or perhaps it was everything that was fucked up.

One thing was for certain, he knew he overreacted.

He sighed heavily – how could you even think to question that he was just simply stringing you along? _And yet…_ His conscience whispered, _Wasn’t that exactly what you did? You encouraged her feelings, withholding the truth of yourself until the very last moment when you thought nothing could be done…Running away from the consequences like a coward, as she said, by conveniently dying…_

V, had not thought this through all the way did he? He groaned and hunched over himself.

It seemed so simple before. Defeating Urizen had been the top priority. The decision to make the most of his short existence as he could, when you burst into a violence of color into his dull life had been an impulse, but one he happily followed. And then to pass away, to become nothing more than a suppressed glimmer in the man who called himself Vergil…

… …

…And then you would be sent home, to your own fate. With at least having tasted happiness before…the chapter closed in your life as well.

In hindsight, that was really the worst plan he’s ever come up with, he admitted to himself.

And that was saying something considering how many stupid plans Vergil had come up with in his lifetime.

He had not factored in the possibility of having to deal with the consequences of diving headfirst into this attachment to you, and how he might hurt you in his carelessness.

He really was an ass.

…Now how was he going to fix this?

**With Dante and V----**

“Whoa, where’s the fire kiddo?”

“Fuck off Dante – I’m out of here before I strangle the shit out of that sorry excuse for a –“

Dante’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as you stormed off, violently cursing a certain poet…loudly. “Ah geez…wasn’t aware that I signed up to be a couple’s therapist here too.” He glanced back at the room you exited and pulled out a coin from his pocket. “Heads I go in, Tails I leave his sorry ass in there to sulk.”

He flipped the coin and sighed, “Heads it is. Guess I’m butting in.” This was going to be awkward as hell. He didn’t bother knocking and strode right in.

V was sitting on the bed in deep thought, a hand splayed over his face. Well…at least he wasn’t crying. But then Vergil had outgrown crying at an early age, much earlier than Dante. Still, he never did figure out how to deal with his broody sibling. Ah shit, Dante scratched the back of his neck as he weighed his options. Might as well just go straight to the point, eh?

“Lover’s quarrel already? Man, you guys are moving through your milestones fast.”

V sighed irritably, “What do you want?”

Dante raised his hands placatingly, he recognized that tone. It was the one Vergil liked to use when he wanted to stab something, repeatedly, “Nada, just thought I’d drop in to say hey. So uh, hey.”

V raised a dark eyebrow, long fingers tapping on the bed impatiently.

Deciding to switch gears, he decided to break the awkwardness with something else, “Say Verg – uh V…Hey wait, what am I supposed to call you now?”

V bit back another irritated sigh. His nerves were frayed but biting Dante’s head off wasn’t going to solve anything. “I prefer to be called V still. While I acknowledge Vergil was my former self – I see no use in maintaining that identity when it conflicts with my own.”

“Okay, gotcha. Uh, how are ya feeling? You wanna grab a bite and do a quick mission with me? Bet you’re pretty antsy from sleeping for a week.”

That got his attention. It had been a week already? V felt uneasy, it had taken a week for his body to recover fully. But you had already been up and awake well before him. He recalled how sickly you looked. Another reason for him to feel remorse over losing his temper at you. It had come from a place of concern, but you deserved better from him than that churlishness. He would just have to figure out how to apologize to you. 

“Alright.”

V unfolded his lanky form and slowly eased himself to his feet. Disregarding the stiffness and the heaviness in his limbs, he felt better than ever in all honesty. The magical reserves of this body seemed to run deeper. He found that he could hold his weight easily and without the aid of his cane. But he had rather grown fond of using it a conduit for his summons. He found it perched on top of a desk and hefted it, feeling the familiar weight in his hand.

The mission as it turns out was nothing more than just a simple extermination; nothing too taxing. While the Qliphoth had collapsed, the roots of the demonic tree still wreaked havoc around town. No one besides the Devil Hunters currently occupied the remnants of Red Grave. But Dante had taken up jobs to help clean up the city so that the residents could start looking into rebuilding.

In the lulls between battles, Dante recounted what he was able of the events atop the tree. Of how you recklessly charged into the chamber even as it fell apart. Of how he had to chase after Nero into the chamber as well because the boy managed to unlock a perfect Devil Trigger form, despite his diluted demonic heritage. And then finally, how in their transformed states, they were able to get the two of you to safety.

It was…a lot for V to digest. On top of everything else.

Dante did mention that you kept watch over him all week, in between reorganizing his office around and scavenging around the perimeter for items for Nico’s experiments when you got too stir crazy, and one forced dinner outing with Nero and Kyrie…you spent the majority of your time by his side. 

“I dunno how she multi-tasks like that. But damn – it kinda reminds me of the time when you fell in the lake and got a fever. Mom stayed up day and night to watch you and still managed to get everything else around the house done.”

While V appreciated how intent you were at running yourself ragged for his well-being, he wished that you actually took care of yourself too. “I’ll have to correct that behavior.” He murmured, missing the strange look Dante gave him. Or rather, his thoughts whirled on, maybe he will just simply force you to rest and take care of you in turn. It would be a good start towards making amends, if anything.

“Geez, she’s not a dog V.”

“That’s not what I meant fool.”

V gracefully ducked as the Sin Devil Sword Sparda swept over him, bringing down the Empusa Queen that had been about to decapitate him, with ease. He sidestepped and twirling his cane, viciously stabbed through the demon’s neck, absorbing its magic and letting it crumble to ashes. V stepped back and felt the heat of Dante’s back against his. Only one demon left to go.

Dante looked over his shoulder and grinned, “Hey remember what we used to do?”

V smirked in response, a hand outstretched to catch Ivory. The gun was much lighter than he expected, but the balance and craftsmanship was superb. No wonder Nico was so proud of her grandmother.

The two brothers cocked their guns and aimed it squarely between the demon’s eyes.

“Jackpot!” They smirked in unison, firing just one shot each.

The demon squealed and dropped dead.

Without any hesitation, both V and Dante turned to face each other, guns leveled in each other’s faces. There was a silence that stretched between them before they lowered their weapons to chuckle at the nostalgia.

“Looks like I got the last one. That brings me up by one!” Dante teased, glancing around to see if there were any more demons headed their way.

“Where did you learn to count? We’re even still.” V huffed lightly in amusement.

The two continued to bicker as they scoured the area one more time before heading back to Devil May Cry.

And if the brothers engaged in a little scuffle with each other here and there on the way back – well, at least they were beginning to resolve their differences through the only way they knew how. By beating each other within an inch of their lives….and enjoying every moment.

**With You, Shortly After Leaving V’s Room----**

You watched the passing scenery listlessly out the window as the bus took you to Fortuna. You weren't running away, but you didn't think you could handle trying to talk things out with V in your current state. You weren't even sure why Fortuna popped up in your mind, but here you were.

That really wasn’t how you imagined V would take the news of what you did. Heaving a sigh, you pinched the bridge of your nose to ward off the incoming tears and breathed slowly. 

Why did it seem like every time you tried to help, it tended to backfire spectacularly on you? You did it from a place of love, you weren’t going to beat yourself over that. But…was that decision really as stupid and selfish as V had insisted?

Shoulders sagging, you leaned into the seat as far as you could. Your foot pressed hard against the metal peg that kept the seat in front of you anchored to the floor. Okay, maybe you could see where he was coming from a little. It probably brought back up the horror from when Vergil split himself with the Yamato. 

_But the outcome was completely different!_ You winced, that didn’t sound very convincing even to you.

Okay so you really didn’t think that through. And you didn’t mean to make V so mad at you. Ugh, how were you going to make it up to him? 

You ran a hand through your hair and jolted out of your thoughts when the bus rolled to a stop. Paying your fare, you disembarked and noticed Kyrie coming up the street, an empty basket in her hands.

“Ah, ____. Just coming back from the office?” Kyrie was smiling brightly at you. Even as she noticed the lines of emotional exhaustion in your slouched posture and your strained smile. She felt for you, recognizing that special type of pain that followed whenever she and Nero had an argument. A special blend of hurt and remorse as well as stubbornness for not understanding why it went the way it did. With just a hint of helplessness at not knowing to navigate back to a reconciliation.

Kyrie help up her basket, she had just the thing to help you. “Can you help me with the shopping today?”

You huffed a little helplessly, you found out quickly that not very many people could say no to her sweetness. Yourself included. “Kay’, what do you need to get today?”

She hummed thoughtfully, glancing about at the various stalls that lined the street. “Maybe a stew tonight? Leftovers are always a godsend, considering how much everyone eats at the orphanage.”

You snorted, “Good idea. I don’t know how those kids pack so much food into their tiny bellies. They even out eat Nero.”

Kyrie giggled beside you as she led you to a vegetable stall. You looked over at everything curiously, when was the last time you saw food that didn’t come in a can? Actually, come to think of it, you rarely saw fresh food even before the Apocalypse. The joys of living and paying your way through life on your own meant your pantry was stocked with canned goods and junk food more than anything. 

Still, meandering thought aside, it was a bit exciting as this was actually your first time wandering around Fortuna. You tried to focus on that. 

The past week…you tried to keep yourself busy during the day but at night…you hadn’t done much else but watch and wait by V’s bedside. That had been your routine until last night Nero made you come out to the orphanage for dinner and to stay the night. Just so you could have a change of scenery. It took a lot of convincing on his part to get you to budge, but in the end you conceded when he guilt-tripped you with how Kyrie had been disappointed every night when he didn’t bring you back for her to meet. 

Although that didn’t deter you from taking a bus right back to Red Grave the moment the lines were up and running the next morning.

Your mood darkened as they turned back to the reason why you were back in Fortuna again. You were feeling pretty low and stupid right now.

“___, did you know that when I first found about Nero being a demon…I hurt him terribly?” Kyrie’s voice was nostalgic and sad as she reached for a tomato to examine it. “The day I found out, I saw him standing over my brother’s body with his Devil Bringer arm.” 

You were startled by this sudden confession. What brought this on? You paid for the things she dropped in her basket, and waited for her to continue.

“When Nero started to explain to me what I was seeing, my first reaction was to step away from him and I saw his heart break from that. I didn’t mean to, but he saw what I was feeling in that moment. And I was scared of him.”

She sighed and tucked a stray lock behind her ear and wandered over to a bakery. Perhaps some bread to stretch out the stew would be good. “I felt guilty because despite all that, he came after me when I was kidnapped.” Her eyes lifted upwards, as if searching for a script to read from to try and make her story as clear as possible for you to follow.

“Then I realized that Nero was still the same no matter what. I’ll always regret hurting him like that, especially since he’s had a hard time accepting himself since we were kids.”

“…how did you…fix it?” You asked quietly, intently peering at her. Maybe she could give you advice as well?

A soft, knowing smile spread across her face. “I didn’t let that stop me from reaching out to him.”

You shook your head, “I don’t understand.”

“Any moment can be your last, just like with the Qliphoth, you let your feelings speak to each other. Don’t run away ___, let V explain himself. He and Nero are a lot alike, they would rather be the one who bears all the burdens and pains of the world, so that the people they love most wouldn’t have to. Don’t harden your heart against him, your love endured so much already, don’t let this be the thing to end it.”

“I don’t know if that’s still possible, I feel like shit and he was really angry.” You bit your lip, already feeling like you were about to cry again. You drew in a shaky breath and let the feeling subside. The pressure of trying to tamp it down manifested instead of a light ringing in your ears and a dizziness that made you want to squint your eyes so you could see properly.

“That’s okay…” She gently placed a hand on your arm, squeezing it in support. “It’s normal to feel that way. Things said in the moment are full of passion, those emotions are wild and unrestrained. We say things meant to hurt because no pain is felt alone when you’re so intertwined tightly – it goes both ways, what one feels, the other does too and it’s a loop that goes back and forth so that you both can understand what the other is going through – you can’t support another’s pain until you feel it too.”

_’Nero really married a saint.’_ You thought with wonder.

If it were possible, you felt as if another Social Link would open up to you right now.

The two of you finished up the shopping day with lighter topics. She queried you on what you liked to eat and seemed scandalized when you could only shrug and offer a meek answer of – “…Anything that’s not a ration pack.”

Even now after all this time, you still couldn’t get the taste of that rancid gravy out of your mouth. Egh…you never wanted to see another MRE ever again if you could help it.

“Really? There has to be something you really want to eat!” She insisted, intent on ferreting out something more specific from you. If she could find out, she could make a favorite dish for you to lift your spirits.

“Heh, I’m serious. I’m not a picky eater. I even ate Nico’s cooking – although it’s really not as bad as Nero and V make it out to be. She made a tea from wasabi paste and French onion soup for us once. It had an interesting flavor, salty and somehow beefy and spicy.”

Kyrie blinked…you were a very adventurous eater.

“Oh look at what we got ourselves here, a demon’s whore eh?” 

Kyrie gripped the basket hard enough for her hands to turn white as three burly thuggish men approached, sneering at the two of you. Oh no – these must be the hecklers Nero warned her about. Some of the residents in Fortuna that were already bitter from the Order of the Sword; had become even more enraged at the presence of demons from the Qliphoth. And in consequence began harassing anyone that showed even a remote connection to demons in any way, shape or form. Or in Kyrie’s case, as a former member of the Order, she would make a prime target.

“Heh, she looks like one of those stuck up Order bitches.”

“Kyrie, when I say go, you run as fast as you can to the mechanic’s up the street. Nico should be there. If not hurry back to the orphanage and call someone.” You muttered lowly only for her to hear.

“But-“

You cut off her protests and addressed the thugs directly. 

“I suggest you turn around and go back under mommy’s skirts. It looks like you guys are up past your bedtime.” You taunted, hands on your hips with your jaw stubbornly set. 

“You stupid bitch – say that again!” One of the thugs cracked his knuckles and glowered at you.

“That again.” You smirked cheekily, reaching behind to pinch Kyrie’s hand as a signal. “Run!” You hissed over your shoulder before lunging forward into a heel kick to the thug’s jaw.

Sweeping the other thug flat on his face, you hurriedly elbowed the remaining idiot deep in his stomach to keep him from going after Kyrie. 

“Oof!”

“Fucking bitch –“

Your fist came down heavy on the back of the neck of the one doubled over from your sharp elbow. A knee came up, catching him beneath his chin. Red spilled from his lips as his teeth cut through his tongue. You slid into a crouch, ducking a meaty arm that attempted to clothesline you. 

Whirling around, you bared your teeth into a sharp smile. “Uh uh, didn’t your mom teach you to never fight with a girl?” You hooked a leg behind the ringleader’s knee and quickly brought him down on his back. Without mercy, you stomped right in his groin, eyes chillingly amused as he yowled in pain and rolled over to clutch himself. “-Cause you’re gonna get your ass beat.”

You paid dearly for that moment of cockiness as a hand fisted into the side of your face, leaving your ears ringing furiously. Growling, you kicked out and snapped into someone’s kneecaps, hearing them grunt. Tsk, they were still on their feet though – time to fix that. You jumped to drop kick the bastard that got you. Breathing heavily, you smirked despite the deep bruising on your face, at the sight of all three thugs out cold on the ground. You brushed your hands clean of dust.

“Impressive.”

The hairs on the back of your neck prickled.

Shit. A chill crept up your spine as three very familiarly robed men appeared.

You turned on your heel and booked it. No time to sit there and let them gloat or whatever the hell they were planning to do. You had to get out fast!

One of them flashed in your way, cutting off your escape. “Not so fast there little girl. You’ve been disturbing the peace, and must be dealt with accordingly.”

A hand fisted in the collar of your shirt and you were unceremoniously tossed into a cart. Wood splintered beneath you, and several nails ripped free from the wood to scratch you. Even though you couldn’t see, you felt the bruises blooming all over your body.

“We’ll have to add property damage to the charges too.”

A boot ground into your back. You cried out in pain but did your best to twist out from beneath his foot to grapple at his ankle; maybe you could pull him off balance and get away. You missed and a large hand slammed your face into the ground.

“Resisting an officer of the law is an offense too, my you’re not very bright are you?”

Stars of pain exploded behind your eyes.

The world vanished in a vertigo of black.

**With Kyrie----**

Her legs burned from running so fast, her arms tired from carrying a full basket of groceries. But she pushed that to the back of her mind as she ran like her life depended on it towards the mechanic’s.

“Oh thank goodness – “ She recognized that van anywhere!

“Nico? Nico!” She called into the shop.

“Huh – Kyrie? Honey, what’s wrong?”

“I need to borrow your phone!” She tossed over her shoulder as she already clambered into the van. Fingers shaking hard as she hurriedly dialed the number to Devil May Cry. Someone had to be there right? Because there was no one at the orphanage now.

“Pick up – pick up…”

Click.

“Devil May Cry – “

Kyrie wanted to sob in relief, “Nero!”

**Back at Devil May Cry----**

Dante and V returned back just as the sun was setting.

However they returned to the office to the sight of Nero alternating between cursing a storm and trying to calm the speaker on the phone down.

“Fuck –“He hissed away from the receiver before bring it back to his ear again, “I’m on my way – you hang tight with Nico.”

“Hey kiddo – where’s the fire?” Dante had a sense of déjà vu and strange chill settling in his stomach. That was not a happy face Nero was sporting.

Nero looked squarely at them, jaw ticking in anger and curtly explained, 

“___’s been arrested. No one knows where they’re taking her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some final thoughts on this chapter ....
> 
> Sometimes our fear and worry is expressed as anger. We say things we don't mean, and we easily forget in those heated moments all the good things shared. I suspect, it's natural for the world to narrow down to a pinprick, to where you can't bring yourself to back out before the damage is done. A voice in the back of your head screams at you to swerve, swerve before you crash! But the larger part is committed to delivering those blows, whether because you don't want to lose your perceived upper hand, whether you think this is the only way to be heard and understood, or because you're so defensive that the only option you have is to lash out. In the end, you both know there are no winners - but sometimes...these things have to be aired out. Maybe not the cleanest execution, but if you can keep reaching out, your feelings will still be heard. All bridges are not burnt forever beyond repair. You just need the other person to meet you halfway.
> 
> I learned it's also important too, to not let that heated moment keep you from telling the other person how much they still mean to you. 
> 
> Also kudos to you all who caught the coin's significance there - hee. But oh dear me, you got into a pickle and V is going to have to hold off his plans on apologizing to you.
> 
> Thank you all for continuing to visit, I dearly appreciate it. Til next time~


End file.
